Bangladesh

KATHMANDU (AP) — At least 32 people were killed on Sunday when a 72-seat passenger aircraft crashed in Pokhara, a resort town in central Nepal, an official said. Rescuers were scouring the crash site near Pokhara International Airport and expected to find more bodies, said Tek Bahadur K. C., a senior administrative officer in the Kaski district. The plane was carrying 68 passengers and four crew members, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported, quoting a spokesperson for Yeti Airlines. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the plane was flying from the capital, Kathmandu, to Pokhara and he urged security personnel and the general public to help with the rescue efforts. Pokhara, located 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Kathmandu, is the gateway to the Annapurna Circuit, a popular hiking trail in the Himalayas. Images and videos shared on Twitter showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site as rescue workers and crowds of people gathered around the wreckage of the … [Read more...] about Officials: At least 32 killed in Nepal plane crash

MELBOURNE, Australia — The men mill around the front of the weathered motel, blinking in the sunlight, not sure what to do with themselves. Around their feet are suitcases and large plastic bags holding everything they own. For nearly nine years, these seven men had been prisoners to Australia’s unyielding approach to refugees, detained for much of that time in miserable offshore camps. Now, without warning, they had been set free, given half an hour to pack up, the worst of their ordeal over but their futures as uncertain as ever. As they waited to be taken to their new homes in a motel on the outskirts of Melbourne, a tangle of emotions rippled through them, the words “nine years” repeated in tones of relief, wonder and exasperation. One man, a refugee named Mohammad, said he felt nothing. “I’m not happy,” he said, standing in the doorway of his room. For Mohammad, the abrupt and arbitrary conclusion to his detention heightened the senselessness of what he had endured — … [Read more...] about ‘What Was the Point?’: Freed After 9 Years, Refugees Learn to Live Again

HONG KONG — Kofi Annan, the former head of the United Nations, said in Myanmar on Tuesday that he was “deeply concerned” by reports of human rights abuses in the country’s restive Rakhine State, where dozens of Rohingya Muslims are said to have been killed since October in a crackdown by the military. Mr. Annan, who leads a commission that was formed in August to study conditions in Rakhine, spoke to reporters at the end of a weeklong visit to Myanmar, which included a trip to the northern areas of northern Rakhine where the army has been conducting a counterinsurgency campaign. Activists have relayed stories of rapes, arson, targeted killings and other atrocities said to have been committed against the Rohingya there by the army since Oct. 9, when insurgents killed nine police officers in attacks on border posts. “We stressed in all our meetings that wherever security operations might be necessary, civilians must be protected at all times, and I urge the security services to … [Read more...] about Kofi Annan, in Myanmar, Voices Concern Over Reported Abuses of Rohingya

See the article in its original context from March 20, 1974 Buy Reprints View on timesmachine TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Louis I. Kahn, whose strong forms of brick and concrete influenced a generation of architects and made him, in the opinion of most architectural scholars, America's foremost living architect, died Sunday evening, apparently of a heart attack, in Pennsylvania Station. He was 73 years old. Among Mr. Kahn's major projects were the master plan for a second capital at Dacca, East Pakistan, which is now … [Read more...] about Louis I. Kahn Dies; Architect Was 73

DOHA, Qatar — The questions spilled out almost as soon as the car doors closed. Was it crowded? How was the selection? And what about the prices? The taxi driver, who went by Shaj, then peered into the rearview mirror and politely asked to see my receipt. I passed it forward, and he scanned it up and down as we swayed through traffic. Shaj had picked me up along a side street on the southern fringes of Doha, inside the razor-wire-topped walls of the Qatar Distribution Company. The Q.D.C., as it is widely known, is the sole importer and distributor of alcohol in Qatar, a Muslim country where the sale and consumption of booze is heavily regulated. Cocktails, wine and beer are served at a smattering of luxury hotels in the country, but the Q.D.C.’s two branches are the only places that sell alcohol for home consumption. “It’s probably one of the happiest places in Doha,” said Rachel Morris, who is originally from Australia but has lived in Qatar for 15 years. The Q.D.C. … [Read more...] about A Beer Run in Qatar, to a Store That Isn’t Open to All

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Central European University said Tuesday that government-proposed amendments to Hungary’s law on higher education “would make it impossible to continue its operations” in Budapest, its home for over 25 years. University President and Rector Michael Ignatieff said in a statement that the closure of the school founded by U.S. billionaire George Soros “would damage Hungarian academic life and negatively impact the government of Hungary’s relations” with its neighbors, its fellow European Union members and the United States. The university, most of whose nearly 1,800 students are Hungarian, said provisions in the draft bill submitted to parliament by Zoltan Balog, the minister who oversees education, are specifically meant to damage the school. They include an obligation for CEU to open a campus in New York state, where it is also accredited, allowing it to award degrees accepted both in Hungary and the U.S. The proposed amendment would also eliminate a … [Read more...] about Soros-Funded University Says it is Targeted by New Hungarian Law