Man from Banbury reported missing

Keith Michael Jervis, 53, was last seen on February 16 at the caravan park, Corner Meadow, Farnborough Road, Mollington, near Banbury. He may have been in the Milton Keynes and Newport Pagnell area and is known to have links to Pembroke Dock in South West Wales.

Iraqi forces seize key Mosul bridge

Baghdad, Feb 27 – The Iraqi military on Monday said it has retaken a bridge across River Tigris in Mosul city, after driving back Islamic State militants in the city’s southwest. The security forces also took control of two neighbourhoods in the western half of the northern city of Mosul, still under the control of the IS, a senior security official told EFE news agency.

170 peacocks die of contagious disease in Pakistan

Islamabad, Feb 27 – Some 170 peacocks have reportedly succumbed to an avian disease in Pakistan’s Tharparkar region, local media reported. Tharparkar’s honorary district game warden Talook Chand Valasai confirmed the death toll, saying at least 30 birds died in various parts of the desert during the last couple of days.

Samsung Group to abolish all groupwide tasks

Seoul, Feb 27 – South Korean electronics giant Samsung is planning to abolish its groupwide tasks and let affiliates independently make business decisions, an official said on Monday. The plan is in line with Samsung’s move to abolish the group’s key future strategy office, which has been responsible for coordinating key affairs among affiliates, Yonhap news agency reported.

US embassy condemns far-right march with US flag in Croatia

The U.S. Embassy in Croatia on Monday strongly denounced a march by far-right nationalists in the Croatian capital of Zagreb who also waved an American flag and reportedly voiced support for President Donald Trump . The embassy said in a statement it “rejects, in the strongest terms, neo-Nazi and pro-Ustasha views expressed during the demonstration of a few people in Zagreb on Sunday.”

Gujarat ISIS suspects remanded to police custody

Ahmedabad, Feb 27 – A local court on Monday remanded to 12-day police custody the two ISIS suspects arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad from Rajkot and Bhavnagar on Sunday. Police said the two brothers — Wasim Ramodiya and Naeem Ramodiya — were learnt to be planning to conduct lone-wolf attacks in the state.

Congress slams Goa government for one-day assembly session after polls

Panaji, Feb 27 – Leader of Opposition Pratapsing Rane said the summoning of the Goa assembly for one-day session on Tuesday to avoid it from lapsing was an afterthought and topped a string of poor decisions by the BJP-led government in its tenure. It is for the first time in the history of the state, if not the country, that an assembly session had to be convened for a day after the assembly elections.

Order CBI probe into test paper leak: Bihar opposition

Patna, Feb 27 – The issue of Bihar Staff Selection Commission question paper leak on Monday rocked the state assembly, with opposition BJP and its allies demanding a CBI probe due to alleged involvement of two politicians of the ruling Grand Alliance. The state government should recommend a CBI probe into the leak as the involvement of two leaders of the ruling dispensation has been reported, Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar said in the assembly.

German hostage beheaded by Abu Sayyaf militants in Philippines

A German man has been beheaded by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines after a deadline to pay his ransom passed, the Philippine government has said. A video posted by the Philippines-based Islamist extremist group Abu Sayyaf and distributed by SITE Intelligence Group identifies the man as Jurgen Kantner, who has been held captive since November.

UPDATE 1-Hong Kong pins Aramco IPO hopes on China’s deep pockets

HONG KONG, Feb 27 Hong Kong’s stock exchange will bank on its role as a gateway to mainland China’s deep-pocketed investors to take on other leading venues and win the coveted $100 billion listing of Saudi Arabia’s giant state oil company, Aramco, it said on Monday. Charles Li, the CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing , said access to Chinese capital and China’s role as the world’s largest importer of oil made Hong Kong a viable contender in the frantic race between listing venues.

Asking the right questions

“Thanks to smartphones and Facebook, 10-year-old children these days know more about relationships and boys than an 18-year-old did 5-6 years ago. Many of the girls here have boyfriends, and they are gossiped about in the community.

Federalism for balancing

Many experts agree that federalism is the best administrative system especially in countries where there is diversity. In order to host diversity, federal system is better equipped than centralist approach in many ways, even through its weaknesses.

East coast to receive a month’s worth of rain this Week

East coast will be smashed with a MONTH’s worth of rain in just seven days as summer comes to a very wet end The east coast is set to be drenched by a month’s worth of rainfall over the next seven days as summer comes to a dramatic close. Just a fortnight after record-breaking highs across Queensland and New South Wales, the entire coast is now predicted to see rain almost every day this week.

Man who dresses up as Santa infects a woman with HIV

Man who dressed as Santa Claus infected woman with HIV after having unprotected sex ‘multiple times’ without telling her he had the disease A man with HIV has pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm after allegedly repeatedly having unprotected sex with a woman. Known as the famous Santa Claus in Coolum, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Alick Frank Robinson, 56, knew he had HIV when he allegedly had sex with the woman.

Restaurateur Totenko Jumps After Pandas Scratch Four-Year Itch

Shares in Totenko Co., a Tokyo-based operator of a Chinese restaurant, jumped after nearby Ueno Zoo announced its giant pandas had mated, fueling hopes that the first baby panda at the zoo in more than four years would boost tourism in the area. Public viewing of the two pandas, Shin Shin and Ri Ri, was halted last week in preparation for the mating session, according to a statement from Ueno Zoological Gardens.

In the Courts – latest update

Magistrates imposed a community order with 20 days of rehabilitation activities and a year-long restraining order. He must pay A 100 compensation, an A 85 victim surcharge and A 200 prosecution costs.

Another bank’s logo on notice

A man passes the head office of Sathapana Bank in Phnom Penh yesterday, which was recently stripped of its corporate logo. Sathapana Bank has begun removing its logo from signage at some of its branches in preparation for a possible network-wide logo change – though it has not received any direct notification from the central bank that it must abandon its corporate branding, a bank executive said yesterday.

ASIC reveals its role in Nine’s $260 million network writedown

The corporate regulator has claimed it played a role in Nine’s decision to write down by $260 million the goodwill value of its television network, a week after it revealed a similar involvement in a $75.5 million impairment at Seven West Media. Nine’s writedown was announced in its half-year results on February 23 and pushed a $75 million underlying profit into a $237 million loss for the first half.

PA leader issues warning to Hamas

Palestinian Authority leader Rami Hamdallah on Sunday sent a threatening message to Hamas, stating that if the movement does not agree to hold the local elections on the date determined, there will be no choice but to postpone the election in Gaza and hold them only in the PA-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria. Hamdallah gave Hamas an additional week to provide its final answer regarding the local elections, adding that the PA government in Ramallah will formulate its position based on this answer.

Melvyn Bragg gives wife huge pay-off but NO divorce

SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Lord Melvin Bragg gives his wife a huge pay-off… but NO divorce: Broadcaster said to have bought her a house as part of their ‘amicable settlement’ When the distinguished broadcaster Melvyn Bragg confirmed to me last June that he had separated after 43 years from his wife, author Cate Haste, many of his friends assumed divorce proceedings would soon follow. However, I can disclose that the Labour peer, 77, who presented ITV’s flagship arts programme The South Bank Show for more than 30 years, has agreed a huge financial settlement with Lady Bragg, 71, that will, unusually, involve the couple remaining man and wife.

Algeria kicks off 1st UNWTO regional capacity building programme on tourism statistics.

The program aims to enable the development of tourism statistics according to the United Nations standards at the national level and to implement the Tourism Satellite Account project over time. In the framework of the technical assistance that the World Tourism Organization provides to Member States, especially in their development of sound statistical systems, the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria has hosted the 1st Workshop on Regional Statistics of the Tourism Sector .

Tribute Portfolio debuts in China.

Tribute Portfolio announced its debut in China with the addition of The Yuluxe Sheshan, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel, Shanghai; the hotel is owned by Shimao Property Holdings and joins Tribute Portfolio’s collection of exceptional hotels around the globe, spanning from Palm Springs to Paris, and from Miami to Mendoza. In almost two years, Tribute Portfolio has opened 19 hotels with 14 on the horizon, including The Honghe Nativeland Mile in Yunnan, China.

Dairy herd sales will bolster annual earnings

Allied Farmers expects a recovery in dairy herd sales will bolster the rural services firm’s annual earnings while announcing a smaller decline in first-half profit than flagged earlier this month. The Hawera-based company said net profit fell to $476,000 in the six months ended Dec. 31 from $615,000 a year earlier, slightly ahead of the $420,000 forecast it provided on Feb. 9. Profit attributable to shareholders rose to $281,000, or 0.17 cents per share, from $240,000, or 0.17 cents, a year earlier.

WWII Navy officer who helped rescue JFK dies at age 97

The WWII Navy officer who guided his warship into Japanese territory to rescue future President John F. Kennedy and his crew has died at age 97, his daughter said Sunday. Liebenow was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and was a new college graduate when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Milan Fashion: Stella Jean explores Cold War nostalgia

A model wears a creation for Stella Jean women’s Fall-Winter 2017-2018 collection, part of the Milan Fashion Week, unveiled in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. A model wears a creation for Stella Jean women’s Fall-Winter 2017-2018 collection, part of the Milan Fashion Week, unveiled in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017.