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Monday, February 21, 2005

Avalanches following the worst snow in two decades have killed over 100 people south of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir, with many more still missing and remote areas still isolated. Forty-five tourists have been rescued, and the death toll is expected to rise as rescuers–including a large number of Indian troops–deal with the 4.5 metres of snow that have fallen since last Friday.

The crisis has cut off electricity in Srinagar for three days and is not affecting the water supplies. There are queues for cooking gas, and helicopters have been bringing in additional supplies.

Monday, March 19, 2007

A 34 year old obstetrician from Forestville on Sydney’s Northern Beaches has escaped after he was robbed, car-jacked and locked in the boot (trunk) of his BMW, which was set alight. Police say the doctor was locked in the boot while his car was set alight, but was allowed to escape before flames engulfed the vehicle.

The Doctor was believed to have been heading to The Mater Hospital in North Sydney when he was waiting at the intersection of West and Falcon Streets in Chatswood around 3:15AM AEDT when a small red sedan with two men claiming to be police officers signalled him to stop. After crossing the intersection, the doctor stopped his car at the side of the road.

The doctor was then approached by the two men and when he asked to see identification, one man grabbed the keys from his car’s ignition before they both pulled the doctor out of his vehicle, hit him in the stomach with a hammer and stole his mobile phone and wallet. The robbers also demanded his key and credit cards along with their access codes before locking him in the boot.

Police allege that the men drove to several locations to withdraw cash and buy things before driving to Carisbook Street in Linley Point at around 4 a.m. local time where they set the car alight with the doctor still in the boot.

Crime Manager of the Harbourside Local Area Command, Detective Inspector Houlahan said that the doctor then “heard a click in the boot area and he heard someone call out: ‘Get out of the car'”

“When he pushed the boot up he found his car engulfed in flames.”

Det. Insp. Houlahan said the doctor told police he did not unlock the boot himself, and it appeared the man’s captors unlocked it before fleeing.

Det Insp Houlahan said that the doctor appeared to be “very distraught” and tired after the ordeal, and wanted to get home and see his wife and two young daughters.

He could only provide police with a vague description of his captors, but said the men were both Caucasian males aged in their 20s, and that one of them was about six feet tall (183cm) with short blond hair and medium build said Det. Insp. Houlahan.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Prominent Thai civil rights lawyer, Somchai Neelapaichit, is now presumed dead, according to an admission by the country’s Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Somchai rose to prominence as a lawyer defending Muslim people accused of involvement in the troubles in the predominantly Muslim provinces of southern Thailand. According to the information provided by the PM, evidence has been provided to the Department of Special Investigations that leads them to believe the lawyer is now dead. This is not considered news by the journalist’s family, according to his wife the country’s Prime Minister admitted to her last year that her husband was dead, and gave assurances that action would be taken against those responsible.

Thailand’s DSI became involved with the disappearance of Somchai in July 2005 when allegations were made that police were involved with the lawyer vanishing. His involvement in cases related to the southern insurgency was suspected to have been behind his disappearance. Somchai had lodged appeals with the Bangkok Criminal Court on behalf of five suspects accused of being involved in a raid on a Narathiwat armoury where weapons were seized and soldiers killed, alleging that they had not been given fair treatment during their prosecution.

The admission follows on from the conviction of Police Major, Nguen Thongsuk, who was prosecuted for illegally detaining the lawyer in 2004. Following that he was last seen in public in March 2004. In the case against the police four other officers were acquitted.

Monday, December 27, 2010

A police official in Mumbai has warned four suspected militants of Pakistani origin have entered the city, the capital of Maharashtra, India, and claims they are plotting attacks in the city. Police are now searching for the four people, thought to be members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Islamic fundamentalist militant group the Indian government holds responsible for the coordinated attacks which hit Mumbai in 2008. Joint police commissioner Himanshu Roy says intelligence suggests “the threat is serious.”

A United States counter-terrorism official said the attacks are likely imminent, and will occur over the Christmas and New Year period. “There’s no question LeT remains interested in pulling off another large-scale attack in India,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, “and we are alert to the possibility that LeT might again try a holiday attack.”

Speaking at a press conference, Roy said “[t]hey have recently arrived in Mumbai. We are not in a position to reveal their nationalities now but they are LeT members.”

Armed police have been posted around high-profile destinations in the city, and roads around the Taj Mahal Palace hotel—seiged by militants in the 2008 attacks—have been closed. Police have released a sketch of one of the militants believed to be in the city.

“The police [are] on high alert all over the city. We cannot take any of these intelligence inputs lightly in the holiday season,” another Mumbai official said. “Since yesterday, we are checking all the possible hideouts, small lodges and guesthouses, railway stations. We are checking all the vehicles that are coming into the city.”

166 people died and hundreds more were injured in the 2008 attacks, in which multiple gunmen attacked the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, a hospital, a police station, and numerous hotels, amongst other sites. The attacks were dubbed “India’s 9/11” by local media. Only one militant survived the attacks, Ajmal Amir Kasab; in May this year he was sentenced to death by hanging, on 86 charges, including murder, terrorism, and waging war against India.

Friday, May 6, 2005

Romania’s National Authority for Tourism (ANT) announced that they would promote tourism in Romania through a new branding strategy, in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development. The director of ANT, Marius Critonescu, said that the branding exercise will be “a significant component of the Romania’s development as a new tourist destination of international level.” He also added that the development of an integrated brand for Romanian tourism will promote a more positive image for the country, thereby increasing the number of tourists and investors. In recent times, there has been quite a lot of investment in “national branding”, especially in the field of tourism, as most marketing experts believe that branding for a product or a country is theoretically the same thing, and that the same strategies and approach should be used for both.

Concerning the Romanian tourism rebranding, international tourism and marketing expert James MacGregor stated that, “We have to touch the hearts and souls of the contemporary tourists who no longer travel for a simple beach or ski track. They want to live a self-knowledge experience that is truly uplifting and will leave unforgettable memories. The brand must show them not what they will see or do as tourists but what they will feel when visiting Romania.”