Subway Strike Suspended in Sao Paulo, May Hit Rio

սան-պաուլո

 

A paralyzing subway strike has been suspended, though union officials warn that if their demands for higher pay aren’t met, they will call workers off the job again Thursday — the day Sao Paulo hosts the opening match of Brazil’s World Cup.

Union members voted Monday night to temporarily suspend the strike they began last week, but also decided they would take a new vote Wednesday to determine whether to resume the work stoppage Thursday.

Meanwhile, a union representing subway workers in Rio de Janeiro said members would vote Tuesday evening on whether to strike.

The actions are a severe threat for World Cup fans because the subways in both cities are being counted on as the main way for spectators to get to the stadiums.

Union officials in Sao Paulo met with the state government Monday afternoon but the parties could not agree on the size of a raise for subway workers, who went on strike Thursday and threw already congested traffic into chaos in the city of 11 million.

 

25 students swept away after Indian dam’s sluices release flood of water downstream without warning

River Beas1

 

Rescuers searching a Himalayan river for dozens of Indian students, who were swept away when a dam released a rush of water, have retrieved four bodies.

The 25 students from the southern city of Hyderabad had been taking photographs on the banks of the Beas River on Sunday when they were engulfed by the water from the Larji hydropower station near the mountain resort town of Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

They had been on a 10-day field trip with around 48 students, some of whom managed to scramble to safety.

Police in Manali said four bodies were recovered Monday morning after the search resumed at dawn. They said a shortage of boats and divers was hampering the operation.

 

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Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for Karachi airport attack; 28 dead

Պակիստանի օդանավակայան

 

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for an hours-long attack at the country’s largest and busiest airport that killed at least 28 people.

Speaking from an undisclosed location, Pakistani Taliban commander Abdullah Bahar said the attack overnight at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport was retaliation for the death of former chief Hakimullah Mehsud.

Bahar warned more attacks will follow.

Late Sunday night, militants armed with guns, grenades and suicide vests stormed the cargo area of the airport.

The attack lasted five hours.

When it was over, 28 people were dead — including eight members of airport security forces, two Pakistan International Airlines employees and one ranger.

Another 24 people were injured, the military said.

All 10 militants involved in the attack were killed, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa said. Two of them detonated suicide vests, he said.

A building caught fire in the attack, but no planes were damaged, Bajwa said.

 

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Afghan candidate’s convoy attacked

afghanistan-convoy-attack

 

 

At least six people were killed and more than a dozen others injured when explosions hit a campaign rally for one of Afghanistan’s two presidential runoff candidates at a hotel in Kabul on Friday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

 

The convoy of candidate Abdullah Abdullah was attacked in Kabul, spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told CNN.

 

Abdullah and his running mates were not hurt, but the candidate’s car was severely damaged, Sediqqi said.

 

There were two explosions, Sediqqi said: One was a suicide attack and the other a possible roadside bomb.

 

Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani are campaigning for Afghanistan’s June 14 runoff election to succeed Hamid Karzai.

 

Abdullah, a former foreign minister, garnered 45% of the vote in the first round, and Ghani, a former finance minister, earned 31%.

 

 

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World’s biggest tumour weighing 30lbs and the size of a watermelon is removed from the uterus of Indian woman

 աշխարհի ամենամեծ ուռուցքը

 

The world’s biggest uterine tumour, weighing 30lbs and measuring 21 inches in diameter, has been removed from an Indian woman.

Doctors in the southern city of Chennai performed a complex operation on a 52-year-old woman identified as Latha.

She had been suffering breathlessness and fatigue for several years but had no idea the giant tumour – similar to the size of a watermelon – was growing inside her.

A month ago, the 52-year-old arrivied at Chennai’s Kumaran Hospital, bleeding heavily.

A team of four doctors performed the surgery, to remove the tumour.

Latha has recovered and been discharged from hospital.

 

 

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North Korea: We’ve detained another American

north-korea-detained-american

 

North Korea announced Friday that it has detained a U.S. citizen who it says entered the secretive country as a tourist in April and broke the law.

The news brings the number of Americans believed to be held in the communist nation to three.

In a brief English-language article, KCNA gave the American’s name as Jeffrey Edward Fowle, saying he arrived as a tourist on April 29. It didn’t give any other details.

Citing unidentified diplomatic sources, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported that Fowle was part of a tour group and that he was detained in mid-May after allegedly leaving a Bible in a hotel where he had been staying.

The U.S. State Department said it was “aware of reports that a third U.S. citizen was detained in North Korea.” But it declined to provide any further information, saying it couldn’t share details about specific cases without written consent from an individual.

 

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Sword-wielding Sikhs clash at India’s Golden Temple during prayers to mark the deadly 1984 military assault at Amritsar

Sikh radicals1

A violent sword battle broke out at Sikhism’s holiest temple today during a special prayer ceremony to mark the government massacre that took place there 30 years ago.

At least six people were injured as dozens of Sikh radicals clashed with supporters of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) at the revered Golden Temple, in Amritsar, Punjab State.

It is understood the scuffle erupted over who would speak first at the service, held to remember victims of military offensive Operation Blue Star that left hundreds dead on June 6, 1984, when soldiers stormed the compound in a bid to flush out separatist insurgents holed up in the temple.

Earlier today, hundreds had gathered at the temple to mark the massacre’s anniversary.

But proceedings took an ugly turn when Simranjeet Singh Mann, local head of Sikh political party Shiromani Akali Dal, and his supporters forcibly tried to deliver a speech from the temple’s rostrum.

The situation was made worse by the fact that police personnel are not permitted inside the Golden Temple.

 

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Thousands in Nepal Hug Trees in World Record Bid

 ծառ գրկելու աշխարհի ռեկորդ

 

More than 2,000 people gathered in Nepal’s capital on Thursday in a bid to set a world record for the largest tree hug.

Parliament members, students, office workers and even Buddhist monks took part in the attempt, gathering at a park on the outskirts of Katmandu. They said they were trying to set the record to celebrate World Environment Day by spreading awareness about the importance of trees.

The previous Guinness World Record for most people hugging trees simultaneously was 936 people in Portland, Oregon, last July.

Participants on Thursday held trees for two minutes as volunteers beat drums at the National Martyrs and Peace Park, on the northeast edge of Katmandu.

Most of the participants were students in their school uniforms.

 

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Iraq, Iran Top World’s Unhappiest Countries List

դժբախտ

 

Do you live in one of the world’s unhappiest places?

A new study released this week by Gallup cited Iran as the country with the highest negative emotions — a close second behind Iraq.

Just last month, six Iranians were arrested in the country for dancing to Pharrell’s “Happy” in the country’s capitol, Tehran. They have since been released.

Gallup measured negative emotions in 138 countries in 2013 by asking people whether they experienced a lot of anger, stress, sadness, physical pain and worry the previous day. Gallup compiles the “yes” results into a Negative Experience Index score for each country. The higher the score, the more pervasive negative emotions are in a country.

In another Gallup study ranking positive emotions, Paraguay ranks first in positive experiences, and Syria was the least likely country worldwide to report positive experiences.

Giving Iran a run for its money — at least as far as unhappiness is concerned — are these other countries:

  1. Iraq
  2. Iran
  3. Egypt
  4. Greece
  5. Syria
  6. Sierra Leone
  7. Cyprus
  8. Northern Cyprus
  9. Cambodia

10. Lebanon

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He’s all right! Paul McCartney leaves Japan after recovering from serious virus that left him in hospital

Փոլ Մաքարտնի

Former Beatle Paul McCartney has left Japan after recovering from a viral infection that forced him to pull out of his Asian concert tour.

The 71-year-old left on a charter flight on Monday with Japanese media reporting he had headed for London.

McCartney was hit by the mystery bug on May 16 – just one day after he landed in Japan ahead of his Out There tour.

He called off the sold-out Japan tour, much to the disappointment of fans – some of whom had paid 100,000 yen ($980) to see him.

McCartney was also scheduled to perform at a Seoul stadium on May 28. It would have been his first concert in South Korea.

Today the concert organisers said in a statement: ‘Paul McCartney himself hopes to return to Japan for more concerts as soon as possible.’
His wife Nancy Shevell, 53, was by his bedside.

Paul is due to begin a U.S. tour on 14 June, which will consist of 18 concerts, leading to a gig at Candlestick Park stadium, the site of the Beatles’ last public show in 1966.

 

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Train derails in northern India, killing at least 9 people

india-rail-crash

 

At least nine people were killed and 82 others were injured when a train derailed Monday in northern India, a railway spokesman told CNN.

Preliminary reports indicate that six cars of the Gorakhdam Express passenger train collided with a stationary cargo train, northeastern railway spokesman Alok Singh said.

Emergency crews were at the scene, working to pull more passengers out. It was unclear how many people were trapped inside.

Incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences and spoke with India’s Cabinet secretary, he said in a post on Twitter.

 

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China to Take 6 Million Older Vehicles off Roads

չինաստան

 

China’s government plans to take 6 million older, polluting vehicles off the road this year in an effort to revive stalled progress toward cleaning up smog-choked cities.

The plan also calls for filling stations in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities to switch to selling only the cleanest grades of gasoline and diesel, according to a Cabinet statement issued Monday.

The order comes after China failed to meet official pollution-reduction goals for 2011-2013, the statement said. It said vehicles registered before 2005 that fail to meet cleaner emissions standards will be “phased out,” though it did not say how.

It called the country’s environmental situation “extremely grim.”

China’s major cities are smothered in eye-searing smog. The country has some of the world’s strictest emissions standards, but authorities have refrained from enforcing them until now to avoid forcing older, pollution-belching trucks off the road and hurting small businesses.

China has about 240 million vehicles on the road, and half are passenger cars, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

 

Week of Flooding in Southern China Kills 37

Չինաստան, ջրհեղեղներ

Flooding over the past week in China’s south has killed 37 people, left six missing, and forced almost half a million people from their homes, the government said Monday.

The seasonal rains have fallen especially hard on the country’s manufacturing hub of Guangdong province near Hong Kong, where 17 of the deaths were reported.

At least 25,000 homes have been destroyed by the flood waters and at least 440,000 people have been displaced, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a statement on its website.

More thunderstorms were forecast for Guangdong on Tuesday.

China’s worst floods in recent history were in 1998, when 4,150 people died, most of them along the Yangtze River, China’s mightiest.

 

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Smoke rises from Somalia’s parliament building after attack

somalia-soldier

Smoke and flames rose from Somalia’s parliament building in Mogadishu after militants launched an attack Saturday. People could be seen lying on the ground, as ambulances pulled up.

People took cover as security forces moved in, exchanging gunfire with the attackers. Some members of parliament were evacuated from the building.

A lawmaker, Mohamed Omar, inside the parliament building said that Al-Shabaab militants wearing military uniforms and suicide belts had entered the compound.

Security forces killed at least three of the militants, Omar said.

Al-Shabaab is the al Qaeda affiliated terror network in Somalia.

 

Gunmen attack Indian consulate in western Afghanistan

Զինյալներ

 

 

Four gunmen attempted to attack the Indian consulate in Afghanistan’s western Herat province early Friday, a spokesman for the governor’s office said.

 

A member of the Indian Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), who was guarding the consulate in Herat City at the time, fired at the assailants as they attempted to barge into the building, said Deepak Kumar, a spokesman for the ITBP in New Delhi.

 

The attackers were armed with machine guns and grenades, he said. A car bomb also exploded near the scene but caused no damage.

 

The attackers were eventually surrounded by Afghan security forces as they approached the consulate, according to Herat governor’s spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi.

 

Two of the gunmen were killed, Ahmadi said. The consulate was not damaged and no one there was injured.

 

The identity of the attackers or motive for the attack is not yet known.

 

 

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Paul McCartney, 71, hospitalised in Tokyo with ‘viral infection’

Փոլ Մաքարտնի

 

Paul McCartney has canceled his concert in South Korea next week due to the virus-caused illness that forced him to call off his entire Japan tour, organizers said Wednesday.

The former Beatle, who turns 72 next month, had planned to hold concerts in Japan and South Korea as part of his world tour.

The statement said that ‘Paul is still not feeling better and this cancellation is unavoidable.’

Organizers said McCartney’s side didn’t give them details about his illness.

Hyundai Card officials said they would offer a refund on the tickets, which range from about $55 to $290.

McCartney is scheduled next month to take his act to the U.S., where he’ll hit several venues over two months.

 

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The Great Wall of… Lonely Hearts ads: Weekly marriage market in China sees parents post notices advertising their single sons and daughters (including how much they earn)

Չինաստան, ամուսնությունների շուկա

 

It could be a missing persons wall set up after a natural disaster or even some kind of art installation.

But these rows upon rows of flyers are actually part of a marriage market where Chinese parents come to find prospective husbands and wives for their children.

Every Saturday and Sunday between noon and 5pm, regardless of the weather, the People’s Park in Shanghai is crowded with mothers and fathers studying the Lonely Hearts messages that adorn the grounds.

On the walls of the avenues, on trees and on washing lines, hundreds of resumes are hung by parents often without the knowledge of their children.

On them they reveal the vital statistics of their offspring, including their height, age, income, education, Chinese zodiac sign and whether they own a car or an apartment.

The parents walk around chatting with other parents to see if there is a match only after their children’s standards are met.

Shanghai marriage market is like online dating in a non-virtual setting.

Although the right to choose your own spouse has long been established in China, Chinese parents still feel the need to try and set their children up because they feel that their children are either too busy or are not actively looking.

The Shanghai marriage market is just one of several such open-sky marriage markets in China and despite the thousands of parents that visit the market over a weekend, success rate remains low.

 

 

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Hundreds of rioters clash with police outside World Cup venues as anti-tournament protests turn violent

Ցուցարարները և ոստիկանները բախվել են Ֆուտբոլի աշխարհի գավաթ

 

Protesters and police clashed in Sao Paulo Thursday, as demonstrations against the World Cup and rallies calling for improved public services erupted in several Brazilian cities.

 

Ցուցարարներ, ոստիկաններ,Ֆուտբոլի աշխարհի գավաթ

Officers in Brazil’s largest city fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who set piles of rubbish alight to barricade a central avenue.

Demonstrators blasted the billions spent to host next month’s football tournament and said they wanted to draw attention to what they called a lack of investment to improve poor public services.

The demonstration turned violent when some people smashed the windows of a Hyundai car dealership and the offices of a bank. Police arrested seven people carrying Molotov cocktails.
Thursday’s demonstrations blocked two key roads into Sao Paulo during the morning commute.
Police blocked the main entrance next to a construction zone where cranes and other machines were lined up to carry materials still needed to finish the football arena.

 

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Would you pay £500 for a LIPSTICK? Artist who sculpted Lady Gaga in make-up launches new botanical range in the UK… but it only lasts if you don’t use it

քանդակ շրթներկ

 

From Lady Gaga to delicate rose bushes, it seems there’s little that artist May Sum can’t turn into a sculpture.

But these are not your average sculpture. Instead of stone or bronze, Sum creates her incredibly intricate pieces using lipstick.

Unfortunately for those who fancy owning a lipstick sculpture of their own, would-be buyers will need deep pockets, as each piece costs an eye-watering £529.

Nevertheless, the Hong Kong artist says that her pieces can be used for their original purpose, although they might not look the same afterwards.

The lipsticks, which have now gone on sale at luxury launches website, VeryFirstTo.com, are available in a choice of themes and can also be customised with portraits of the customer’s choice.

Sum, who began her career as a make-up artist, takes between 12 and 13 hours to create a floral sculpture but says the more detailed portraits can take up to a week.

While for now Sum says she’s concentrating on lipstick art, she says she won’t rule out working with different types of cosmetic in future.

 

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Is this the worst job in the world? Man in China makes living as a human PUNCHBAG letting people hit him as hard as they can for money

china-man1

 

A Chinese man has turned himself into a human punch bag with people paying money to hit him as hard as they can.

Xie Shuiping, 48, offers up himself to people on the streets and in bars and nightclubs, giving them the chance to punch him in the stomach three times.

Mr Xie, of Wuhan city in Hubei province, says he can earn around 20,000 yuan (£1879) a month, enough to make a decent living out of it.

He started his career as a human punch bag in 2004 in a promotional show at a supermarket, where he allowed audience members to hit him over the head with wine bottles.

From then on, he started to earn money by allowing people to hit him as hard as they can.

According to Mr Xie, each of his ‘performances’ last around 20 minutes with paying customers allowed to punch his stomach three times.

 

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