The caretaker cabinet of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in its first meeting, approved the transfer of approximately two acres of government land to the Auqaf department for the construction of cremation grounds for Hindus and Sikhs in the province. Cremation ground each in the Peshawar and Nowshera districts are to be constructed for the Hindu and Sikh communities and a little less than half an acre for Christian graveyards in the Kohat district of the province. The caretaker cabinet approved the transfer of two acres of government land for the minority communities. The communities welcomed the decision.
Pet leopard runs amok in Islamabad
A pet leopard escaped from a house in the Pakistan capital and roamed the streets for hours before being shot with a sedation dart, wildlife officials said. In videos posted to social media, the young male cat slips between cars before knocking down a man and leaping over a garden fence. “According to our initial investigation, it is a pet animal and not wild at all, but he is scared and is constantly roaring,” Tariq Bangash, director of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, said. Pakistan last year banned the import of exotic mammals after large numbers were brought in or bred in recent years, causing problems for wildlife officials.
8 killed as cyclone hits NZ
A New Zealand mum has recounted the heartbreak of watching her two-year-old daughter being swept away in floodwaters unleashed by Cyclone Gabrielle, which has killed at least eight people. The storm has faded into the South Pacific but left a trail of destruction and human suffering across New Zealand’s North Island. About 10,000 people are displaced, cities and towns are still without power and drinking water, and local government officials estimate tens or even hundreds of communities have yet to be contacted.
Japan discovers almost 7,000 new islands
Japan has “discovered” more than 7,000 new islands it did not know existed using advanced mapping technology in the first geographical study of the archipelago in 35 years. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan is expected to release a report on its updated map of the nation in March. At present, Japan is officially made up of 6,852 islands, but that figure will rise to 14,125 islands, Kyodo News reported. The previous estimate was the result of a study by the Japan Coast Guard in 1987, but that list of islands only included those with a circumference of at least 100 metres, or 328 feet.
US boy dies from flesh eating bacteria
Jesse Brown, an 11-year-old boy in the United States, died from a benign twisted ankle he suffered while running on a treadmill, leading to a flesh eating infection. Some days later, his family discovered that his entire leg was covered in what seemed to be splotchy, purple, and red blotches that resembled bruises. Shortly after that, physicians informed Brown that he had a group A strep infection that developed into flesh eating bacteria. Brown was then admitted to an intensive care unit. Paediatrician Dr Candice Jones said that in most cases are not as severe, but in very rare cases, it can cause a secondary infection like flesh-eating disease.
Seif al-Adel is new al Qaeda chief
Seif al-Adel, a former Egyptian special forces officer who is a high-ranking member of al Qaeda and has a $10 million US bounty on his head, is now the militant group's "uncontested" commander, according to a new UN report. After the death of its founder Osama bin Laden in 2011, Al Qaeda has not openly declared a replacement for Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was thought to have been killed in a US missile strike in Kabul last year.
China slaps curbs on Lockheed Martin, Raytheon
In an effort to isolate democratic Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory, Beijing slapped trade and investment restrictions on Lockheed Martin and a unit of Raytheon. Lockheed and Raytheon’s Raytheon missiles and defense are barred from importing goods into China or making new investments in the country, the commerce ministry said. What consequences the sanctions might have were unclear. Most sales of weaponry-related technology to China are prohibited by the US, although some military contractors operate commercial enterprises in the aerospace and other sectors.
China, Iran seek easing of sanctions
Presidents of China and Iran, Xi Jinping and Ebrahim Raisi, respectively, urged for the easing of sanctions against Iran as a crucial component of the faltering global nuclear deal. Xi also accepted an invitation from Raisi to visit Iran, the two leaders said on the last day of a three-day state visit to China by Raisi. The two also urged the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which was a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and numerous nations, including the US, in which Tehran committed to curtail its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Xi told Raisi that China would “participate constructively” in talks to resume negotiations on implementing agreement.