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Driving through flood water 'risks lives'

By: Admin on February 17, 2018 / comment : 0 Slider, UK

Two-thirds of drivers would risk driving through flood water, despite it being the leading cause of death during a flood, the Environment Agency says.

The agency's Caroline Douglass described the statistic, taken from a survey of 18,000 AA members, as "extremely concerning".
"No one should put their own life or those of their friends and family at risk during a flood," she said.
Since 2013, the AA has rescued more than 14,500 drivers from floods.
A total of 101 drivers have been rescued from Rufford Lane in Newark, Nottingham, in the past five years.
Driving through flood water can also cause serious damage to the vehicle, with three-quarters of flood-damaged cars ultimately being written off, the agency said.
It is running a campaign warning people to prepare for flooding in advance by signing up for warning messages.

'Turn around'

Ms Douglass, the Environment Agency's director of incident management and resilience, said just 30cm of water was enough to float a family car and even less could float smaller vehicles.

Where have drivers been rescued from floods?

Location	Number of rescues
Rufford Lane, Newark, Nottingham	101
Slash Lane, Barrow upon Soar, Loughborough	77
Houndsfield Lane, Shirley, Solihull	47
Bridgnorth Road, Trescott, Wolverhampton	39
Riverside, Eynsford, Dartford, Kent	39
Bucklebury, West Berkshire	32
Mountsorrel, Loughborough	31
Hawkswood Lane, Fulmer, Gerrads Cross	31
Winterbourne, Wiltshire	30
Mill Lane, Brockenhurst, Hampshire	30

Source: AA, January 2013 - December 2017

Ms Douglass urged those travelling long distances during the winter to check for flood warnings along their route.
"If you find your way blocked by flood water, never take the risk - turn around and find another way," she said.
The survey also found that men were more likely to drive through flood water than women - with 72% of male respondents admitting that they would try it, compared with 60% of women.

Jacob Zuma: ANC leaders call NEC meeting for Wednesday

By: Admin on February 06, 2018 / comment : 0 Asia, Slider, World

https://zeshannews.blogspot.com/2018/02/jacob-zuma-anc-leaders-call-nec-meeting.html

South Africa's ruling party has called a meeting of its top body for Wednesday, amid growing pressure on President Jacob Zuma to stand down.

In a statement, the ANC said that the meeting was called to discuss the "management of the transition" between the Zuma and Ramaphosa administrations.
On Monday, senior politicians held an emergency meeting in Johannesburg to discuss Mr Zuma's future.
The president has resisted calls to quit over corruption allegations.
Mr Zuma, 75, was replaced as party leader in December, and his deputy and successor, Cyril Ramaphosa, 65, would step into the presidency if he were recalled by the ANC.
An ANC spokeswoman told Reuters news agency that the removal of President Zuma was not on the agenda at Monday's meeting.
The president, in power since 2009, is due to make a state of the nation address on Thursday, and some in the party want Mr Zuma to leave office ahead of that speech.
On Wednesday the ANC's National Executive Committee will meet.
If the committee agrees to recall Mr Zuma, the BBC's Andrew Harding says, it would be very hard for him to resist.
He might even face a no-confidence motion in parliament the next day, our correspondent adds.
Mr Zuma, who spent time in prison for his part in the fight against apartheid, met the ANC's top six on Sunday. They are said to have failed to convince him to stand aside.
Julius Malema, an opposition leader and former ANC member, said on Twitter that Mr Zuma had refused to go early.

Other unconfirmed reports from Sunday's meeting say that Mr Zuma asked for protection from prosecution for himself and his family.

Why does the ANC want to remove him?

Mr Zuma's presidency has been overshadowed by allegations of corruption.
In recent years his links to the wealthy India-born Gupta family, who are alleged to have influenced the government through their relationship with Mr Zuma, have caused his popularity to plummet. In South Africa, it has become known as "state capture".
Both Mr Zuma and the Guptas deny the allegations.
Then there is also the country's struggling economy, with the unemployment rate rising to about 28%.

What are the allegations against him?

2005: Charged with corruption over multi-billion dollar 1999 arms deal - charges dropped shortly before he becomes president in 2009
2016: Court orders he should be charged with 18 counts of corruption over the deal
2005: Charged with raping family friend - acquitted in 2006
2016: Court rules he breached his oath of office by using government money to upgrade private home in Nkandla - he has repaid the money
2017: South Africa's public protector said he should appoint judge-led inquiry into allegations he profiteered from relationship with wealthy Gupta family - he denies allegations, as have the Guptas
2018: Zuma approves inquiry

Crowdfunding pays hospital bills of injured India girl

By: Admin on February 06, 2018 / comment : 0 Asia, India, Slider

https://zeshannews.blogspot.com/2018/02/crowdfunding-pays-hospital-bills-of.html

A crowdfunding site in India has raised more than 1.6 million rupees ($24,976; £17,680) for a four-year-old girl who was critically injured after a drunk man fell on her from a three-storey building.

The girl, Dhanyashri Sridhar, is still recovering in hospital.
The fund, only a week old, has received money from more than a thousand people.
It was launched by a group of young men who live in the same neighbourhood as the Sridhars in Chennai city.
"It feels good to know she is recovering," said Sathish Kumar Mohan, one of the men who helped launch the crowdfunding campaign.
Mr Mohan, a 30-year-old software engineer, told the BBC that he and his friends found out about the accident through a group on WhatsApp.
The group has about 20 participants, all of whom live in the neighbourhood of Old Washermanpet. One of the members messaged on 30 January, saying a little girl had been badly injured and her family needed help.

How does crowdfunding work?
'Mum's WhatsApp messages are crashing my phone'
India's switched-at-birth babies who refused to swap back

Mr Mohan said this was not unusual because they had collected money or mobilised help in the past by spreading messages through WhatsApp groups.
Messages on WhatsApp, especially on groups, travel quickly in India where the messaging platform has more than 200 million monthly active users.
But this time, Mr Mohan said, they needed a lot more money. Dhanyashri had fractures in her spine and her legs, and she also needed surgery.
That's when some of Mr Mohan's friends suggested creating an online campaign that would crowdsource funds. "They told me, it will help you reach out to many more people," he said.
Mr Mohan first contacted the girl's father, A Sridhar, over the phone. Then he met him personally to explain that they were raising money to help Dhanyashri.
Mr Sridhar told the Zeshannews that he hopes his daughter will recover soon. He added that he wanted to thank everyone for the money they have contributed.
The campaign was launched on 31 January with photos of Dhanyashri and details of what happened.

It's done "exceptionally well" considering it only launched on January 31, Arti Rajan, the communication officer for the crowdfunding platform, told Zeshan news.
She said the donations varied from $1.56 to $780. Now, the fund is just $6,000 short of its target: $31, 200. It has 24 days left to reach the goal.
He is still in touch with Dhanyashri's father, Mr Sridhar.
"I spoke to him last night and he told me she woke up and recognised her sister," Mr Mohan said. "He said she is eating again and they gave her some dosa with milk."

The female protesters against giving women the vote

By: Admin on February 05, 2018 / comment : 0 Slider, UK, Womenrights

A century ago, after years of campaigning, women over the age of 30 who owned property were given the right to vote in the UK.

But for many thousands of women, it was not a moment of celebration.
Known as the anti-suffrage movement, these women had been working to oppose the suffragettes.
They believed women didn't have the capacity to understand politics, and portrayed the suffragettes as a group of "ugly" women and "spinsters".

The Anti-Suffrage League was founded in 1908 by Mary Humphrey Ward, with support from two men: Lord Curzon and William Cremer.

Laura Kuenssberg: The journey towards 50-50
Reality Check: What if women couldn't vote?
How the Suffragettes woke us up

A year later, it was announced that more than 250,000 people, both men and women, had signed a petition against giving women the vote.
Writing in The Queen in 1908, one "opponent", as they were described in the article, said they saw the campaign for the vote as a "prelude to a social revolution" that would set society back.
"We believe in the division of functions as the keystone of civilisation," it continued.
"It is as if the animals on the farm should insist on changing places - the cows insist upon drawing the coach, while the horses strive in vain to chew the cud and ruminate."

Historian Kathy Atherton says people nowadays can find it "surprising" that women were involved in an anti-suffrage movement, but that it's important to "put yourself in their shoes".
"There would have been a general acceptance that women were intellectually inferior and emotional - and women would have believed that as well as men - so they didn't have the capacity to make political judgements," she says.
"It's a really hierarchical society and the white male is at the top of the heap.
"There's a fear that you're upsetting the natural order of things, even going so far as thinking the colonies would be affected if they felt that Britain was being ruled by women."

"One of the arguments that some of these anti-suffrage campaigners put forward was that if we give British women the vote - and they would very specifically use the example of India - Indian men and women won't like it," says Dr Sumita Mukherjee from the University of Bristol.
At the time, India was ruled by the British Empire so power was exerted by the government in London and, by default, those who voted for them in the first place.
"They [the anti-suffrage movement] used this assumption that colonial subjects were very patriarchal themselves and they wouldn't like it if women had the vote in Britain," says Dr Mukherjee.
"The counter-argument was that there had been a female queen, Queen Victoria. She'd been Empress of the British Empire and most subjects hadn't kicked up a fuss about having an empress so why would they kick up a fuss about British women having a vote?"

There were also arguments much closer to home.
Historical author Elizabeth Crawford says there was a genuine concern at the time that giving women the vote would "destroy families".
"They thought it would cause dissension in the home if a man wanted to vote conservative and his wife liberal," she says.
The writer in The Queen magazine said the suffragettes were "irresponsible" in forcing the vote on wives and mothers.
"It is a vast upheaval of social institutions and habits, which must cut into the peace and well-being of families and harm the education of children," the article claimed.
A leaflet from 1909 held in The Woman's Library puts forward an argument that women have "neither capacity nor leisure" to vote.
"Women are more easily swayed by sentiment, less open to reason, less logical, keener in intuition, more sensitive than men," the writer claims.
"The qualities in which their minds excel are those least required in politics; their strong points are wasted or harmful there."

Both sides of the campaign produced artwork and slogans to promote their points of view.
"They [the anti-suffrage images] are portraying the suffragettes as being absolute harridans, slovenly housewives, appalling mothers, that they were ugly, that they looked like men, that they were lesbians," says Ms Atherton.
"It's very much like the Twitter campaigns that you get at the moment, whenever a high-profile woman says something of a feminist nature."
Prof June Purvis of the University of Portsmouth has collected many postcards printed with anti-suffrage messages and imagery.
"I was quite fascinated by these postcards because not many people have done research on them, and I thought they were telling a message of how difficult it was for women at that time to be taken seriously," she says.
A number of the examples in her collection still have original writing on the back, many of which don't explicitly refer to the image on the front.
"In the early 20th century postcards were big business," says Prof Purvis.
"I think the people who bought them were sending a normal message [for example arranging to meet up], like how we now use email."

For Prof Purvis, one of the stand-out postcards shows a group of women, supposedly in the House of Commons, showing what a future with women in Parliament would be like.
In the image, one woman is staring into a hand mirror, while another reads a book in the corner and yet another has brought her baby with her.
"That postcard really portrays the cultural fear at the time, that if women got the vote, they may then ask to be allowed to stand for Parliament and this is going to upset the whole gender order."
In December 1918 women were granted the right to stand for election for the first time.

John Mahoney: British-born Frasier actor dies aged 77

By: Admin on February 05, 2018 / comment : 0 Slider, US-Canada, World

The British-born actor John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane in the US sitcom Frasier, has died aged 77.

He died on Sunday while in hospice care in Chicago.
Mahoney enjoyed a distinguished career in theatre, winning a Tony award, and had a long list of film and TV credits.
But he will be best remembered for playing the unpretentious, blunt father of Frasier and Niles Crane in the hit comedy, which ran for 11 seasons from 1993-2004.
Mahoney won a SAG award in 2000 for the role, and was also nominated for two Emmys and two Golden Globes.
Much of the comic spark in Frasier came from the relationship between the down-to-earth retired police officer Martin Crane and his pompous sons Frasier and Niles, played by Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce.

Evacuee childhood

Mahoney was born in Blackpool, where his pregnant mother had been evacuated to escape Nazi bombing raids.
He moved to the US as a young man, serving in the US army for three years, which he credits with eradicating his native British accent.
It was only in 40s that he became a professional actor, after actors John Malkovich and Gary Sinise invited him to join the new Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
He was a member of Steppenwolf for 39 years - and became a well-known part of the Chicago theatre scene.
The company announced on social media that Mahoney had passed away "due to complications from cancer".
"John was a beloved member of our Steppenwolf family who was known for his extraordinary kindness, generosity of spirit and quick smile," it said in a statement.
In a 2004 interview with the Chicago Tribune, he said he preferred his theatre work to the high-profile national television scene, saying: "I don't care if I never go in front of a camera again."
He also lent his voice to a number of animated projects, including Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Iron Giant, and Antz.

'Remember him well'

Tributes to the actor have been pouring in. Actor Gary Sinise, who co-founded Steppenwolf, said: he remembered "so many wonderful plays together over the years. A wonderful actor, I'll never forget his 1985 performance in Orphans."
Jeff Greenberg, the casting director for Frasier, called him a "brilliant actor"
Director Greg Berlanti tweeted that Mahoney had been "so kind and supportive of me early in my career", helping to get the film The Broken Hearts Club made.
"He never wavered in his belief in me - a first time director," Berlanti wrote. "And he was even more kind than he was brilliant."
Peri Gilpin, who played Roz Doyle in Frasier, tweeted a photo of Mahoney singing at her wedding

US stock plunge sparks global sell-off

By: Admin on February 05, 2018 / comment : 0 Business, Slider

US stocks suffered their worst falls in more than six years on Monday in a sell-off sparked by concerns of higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average index tumbled 1,175 points, or 4.6% to close down at 24,345.75.
The White House moved to reassure investors saying it was focused on "long-term economic fundamentals, which remain exceptionally strong".
Signs of improvement in the economy had driven US markets to record highs.
Ever since he was elected in November 2016 President Donald Trump has tweeted a number of times about the increase in US stock markets, using the gains since he took office to illustrate market improvement.
"Economic news from the US has been stronger than anticipated," said David Kuo, chief executive of financial services advisory Motley Fool.
"So, perversely, the market correction has been caused by positive economic news".
Monday's decline is the largest decline in percentage terms for the Dow since August 2011, when markets dropped in the aftermath of "Black Monday" - the day Standard & Poor's downgraded its credit rating of the US.

What has the reaction been?

The drop on the Dow was closely followed by the wider S&P 500 stock index, down 4.1% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq, which lost 3.7%.
In London, the FTSE 100 index of leading companies also fell to close down 1.46% or 108 points lower.
In Tuesday's early Asian trade, stocks were following Wall Street's lead. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 sank 4.8% before recovering slightly, while Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was down 2.7%. In South Korea, the Kospi lost 2.3%.

Why is this happening?

Investors are reacting to changes in the outlook for the American and global economy, and what that might mean for the cost of borrowing.
The stock market sell-off accelerated on Friday when the US Labour Department released employment numbers which showed stronger growth in wages than was anticipated.
CMC Markets analyst Michael McCarthy said the wage numbers "blew lower interest rates out of the water".
"The share selling....reflects a higher than previously anticipated interest rate environment," Mr McCarthy said.
In response to that, investors moved to sell out of stocks and put money into assets like bonds which benefit from higher interest rates.
"This isn't a collapse of the economy. This isn't a concern that markets aren't going to do well," said Erin Gibbs, portfolio manager for S&P Global Market Intelligence.
"This is concern that the economy is actually doing much better than expected and so we need to re-evaluate," she said.

Stronger global growth has prompted central banks in Europe, Canada and elsewhere to ease away from policies put in place to stimulate the economy after the financial crisis.

What impact will this have?

Analysts say investors should be prepared for choppier stock markets in the months ahead.
But the Dow closed Monday having shed about a third of its gains since Mr Trump took office in January 2017.
It marks a dramatic turnaround from January, when it raced past the 25,000 and 26,000 point milestones in less than a month.
Joel Prakken, chief US economist for IHS Markit, predicts share price gains will be limited over the next two years.
But he added that markets would need to deteriorate more significantly for him to start to worry about the broader economy.
"The difference between this year and last year is we're going to see more periods of volatility like this as the market reacts to higher inflation," he said.
"We're just not used to it because it's been so long since we've had a significant correction."

What does it mean for investors?

Investors have been bracing for a downturn after months of seemingly unstoppable gains.
Amid the market plunge on Monday, websites for several large money management companies suffered slowdowns or crashes.
Wall Street firms also said they have been fielding calls from people worried about their investments.

Boasting about stock market gains is a dangerous game that most presidents avoid playing. Barack Obama did it occasionally, but only after the US economy had climbed significantly from the wreckage of the 2008 collapse.
After warning of a market bubble during the campaign, however, Donald Trump became the Dow Jones's biggest cheerleader- in tweets, at rallies and even during last week's State of the Union address. That set up the jarring visual of the president boasting about the benefits of his tax cuts in a speech as the markets headed south.
US cable news channels, which had been airing the president live, cut into their coverage to report on the record-setting day. It was a highly visible hiccup in the recent US economic success story that will be hard for most Americans to miss.
The president will make the case that the fundamentals in the economy are still strong. Wages are up and unemployment is down - possibly contributing to stock drop. If growth continues, this could be chalked up as yet another rhetorical mis-step by a non-politician.
If it's the beginning of a larger correction in an election year, however, the president's words could come back to haunt him.

Liverpool 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur

By: Admin on February 04, 2018 / comment : 0 Slider, Sports

Harry Kane's penalty - converted with virtually the last kick of an enthralling encounter - gave Tottenham a vital point at Anfield after Mohamed Salah's brilliant stoppage-time strike looked to have given Liverpool victory.

Liverpool had only seconds to survive when referee Jon Moss pointed to the spot after Virgil van Dijk collided with Erik Lamela - allowing Kane, who had missed an earlier penalty, to score his 100th Premier League goal and leave the home fans enraged.
Salah's third-minute goal, scored after he intercepted Eric Dier's poor back pass, gave Liverpool a lead they held until 10 minutes from time when Spurs substitute Victor Wanyama lashed keeper Loris Karius' punched clearance back into the top corner from 25 yards.
In a dramatic finale, Karius saved Kane's penalty after he brought down the striker, paving the way for Salah to weave his way into the area before lifting a finish over Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris at the start of five minutes of stoppage time.
And after Moss awarded Kane a second opportunity from the spot, the England international placed his penalty into the bottom-right corner.
It was a fitting end to a thriller and a result which will bring more satisfaction to Spurs as defeat would have left them five points adrift of Liverpool in the race for a place in next season's Champions League.
Liverpool remain third in the Premier League table, two points ahead of Tottenham in fifth.

Frustration for Liverpool and Klopp

When manager Jurgen Klopp set off on a sprint of triumph along the touchline in front of Anfield's giant Main Stand as Salah put Liverpool back in front in injury time, he thought he was celebrating a win that was opening up a crucial five-point gap between his side and Spurs.
Instead, minutes later, he was left to reflect on the concession of a late equaliser that left Anfield enveloped in frustration.
Liverpool's much-maligned defence had held firm for so long, but Klopp's switch to three at the back, when he sent on Joel Matip for James Milner in the final quarter of an hour, did not have the desired effect.
Spurs played on Liverpool's nerves, although Karius, who remains an inconsistent presence, could hardly have expected his punch - when perhaps he should have caught - to be returned into the top corner of his net with such spectacular interest by Wanyama.
Liverpool, and indeed Anfield, were suddenly on edge but relieved when Karius saved Kane's lame penalty.
Then came that dramatic exchange of goals in a chaotic finale and the points were shared.
Liverpool offer so much that is good when it is measured in goals and excitement, but that nasty habit of carelessness and conceding crucial goals has still not been cured.

Anfield's fury at late twist

Liverpool's supporters were waiting to celebrate a vital victory after Salah's twisting, turning run into the area in stoppage time ended with a clever finish over the onrushing Lloris.
It came just after Kane had missed the chance to give Spurs the lead from the spot when his uncharacteristically poor penalty was saved by Karius.
And yet the cheers stuck in the throats as referee Jon Moss - who entered lengthy consultation with his assistant before finally awarding the first Spurs penalty - waited as Van Dijk tangled with substitute Lamela, looking towards his colleague once more before pointing to the spot.
The Kop exploded in fury but Kane stayed calm and made no mistake the second time, beating Karius comfortably.
Klopp was desolate as he was locked in conversation with fourth official Martin Atkinson.
There was barely time to restart the game and Anfield instantly vented its anger on Moss after awarded Spurs two penalties in front of the Kop.
Once the drama had subsided, this was a fair result between two teams who mix high quality, intensity and attacking intent with moments of vulnerability - leaving the top four chase as tight as ever.

Spurs in show of resilience

Spurs could have been forgiven for fearing the worst when Eric Dier's carelessness let in Salah as early as the third minute, instantly evoking memories of their struggles when visiting other teams in the so-called "big six" in recent years.
Mauricio Pochettino's side have not won away in the league against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United in 11 game stretching back to a 2-1 win at Etihad Stadium in February 2016.
And yet they can take massive encouragement away from Anfield after the manner in which they kept their composure and played their way back into contention after Liverpool dominated the first half.

Spurs kept probing and even when Salah's second looked to have condemned them to certain defeat - seemingly even more of a blow after Kane's missed penalty - they gathered themselves for one late push that earned another spot-kick and a point.
Pochettino's players have been accused of fluffing their lines on occasions like this in recent times. Here they deserve great credit.

'We would have won if it wasn't for those decisions'

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "There were so many situations to talk about but the ref's decisions decided the game so I can't help but talk about them.
"I don't understand either of the penalty situations. The first one was offside and the second, I know already what the ref and his assistant will say. There was a touch, a little touch. But Lamela has jumped into him and wanted the touch and to go down.
"If the ref kept playing at that level then fine, but in the first half he wasn't giving fouls. Then for the softest touch of the whole game he decides it is a foul.
"In the second half we had to defend like crazy, they had to chase the game. We had counter-attacks, the high pressure was good and we put in some super crosses.
"We were a bit unlucky here and there but we had enough chances to win the game. And we would have if it wasn't for those decisions."
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino: "It was an amazing game to watch - two teams that always try to play exciting football.
"I was calm because the team plays so well. The feeling is we dropped two points. We were much, much, much better than Liverpool.
"Both were a penalty and it is not controversial. Sometimes people complain about the referee, but when they are right it is good to tell everyone.
"It was important, the character. When you analyse the game, it was always under control despite conceding the first goal. When you analyse the 90 minutes, Tottenham were much better.
"We always try to give our best. The team always shows personality and character. Today was a game we played for the win, and to change history you need time."
Tottenham striker Harry Kane after scoring his 100th Premier League goal: "I was nervous before the second penalty. It was a big moment, with a lot of pressure, but I stuck to the routine.
"There was a lot of pressure, in front of the Kop. The first one, I did everything I wanted to and the keeper made the save. You've got to take the chances. I thought the second one was a penalty; the defender took out Lamela.
"The gaffer said at half-time: Play a bit quicker. We created some chances. Victor Wanyama scored a great goal, and if I scored the first penalty we probably would have won it. But there we are. I've had a good season in front of goal so let's see how many I can get now."

Kane and Salah's records - the best of the stats

Kane has scored 100 goals in the Premier League in 141 appearances - only Alan Shearer (124) reached that mark in the competition in fewer games
Liverpool are unbeaten in their past 15 league games at Anfield (W8 D7), the second longest current run in the competition, after Manchester City (25 games)
Tottenham have won only two of their 26 games at Anfield in the Premier League (8%)
Spurs are winless in their past 11 away games against 'top six' opponents in the league (D5 L6), and have won only one of their 19 such games under the Argentine (D7 L11)
Salah has netted 21 goals in 25 games in the league, the fewest appearances of any Liverpool player to reach 20 goals in the competition
Salah has also been directly involved in 27 goals in the league this term, the joint most of any player in their first 25 appearances for a club in the competition
The Egyptian is only the second Liverpool player to score 20 or more goals for the club in his debut Premier League campaign, after Fernando Torres in 2007-08 (24)
Salah's opener after two minutes 16 seconds was Liverpool's quickest goal in the Premier League since April 2016, when Daniel Sturridge scored inside two minutes against Newcastle United (1min 7secs)

North Korea to send ceremonial head Kim Yong-nam to South Korea

By: Admin on February 04, 2018 / comment : 0 Asia, North Korea, Slider, South Korea

North Korea is to send its highest ranking official for years to the South amid an easing of tensions during the Winter Olympics.

Kim Yong-nam, the ceremonial head of state, will lead a 22-member delegation to the South beginning on Friday, said the South's Unification Ministry.
The two Koreas' athletes will march under one flag at the opening ceremony.
The North's participation in the Games is widely seen as a diplomatic manoeuvre by Pyongyang.
North Korea currently faces growing international pressure and sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes.

Arriving by ship

North Korea on Monday proposed sending an art troupe to the Games by ferry, a move that would require an exemption from bilateral sanctions.
Pyongyang proposed that its delegation use the Mangyongbong 92, a ferry that usually operates between North Korea and Russia, for transportation and as accommodation for the group, according to the South's unification ministry.
All North Korean ships have been banned from entering South Korean ports since 2010.
"We're seeking to apply an exemption... to support a successful hosting of the Olympics," South Korean ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a press conference.
On Sunday, the united Korean women's ice hockey team played its first match, but lost the friendly against Sweden 1-3.

Sunday's outing was the first and only practice match for the newly minted Korean squad.
Kim Yong-nam is the head of the parliament in the North and will be the highest-level official to visit South Korea in four years.
An unnamed official from the South's presidential Blue House told the BBC that they believe this reflected a willingness on the part of North Korea to improve inter-Korean relations, and demonstrated the North's sincerity.
Mr Kim will lead a delegation of three other officials and 18 support staff, the unification ministry said.
It did not say whether he would attend Friday's opening ceremony of the Games in Pyeongchang, a county in the mountainous east of South Korea.

If so, it would put him in the company of US Vice President Mike Pence at a point of high tension with Washington over the North's nuclear ambitions.
In another development on Sunday, the Washington Post reported that Fred Warmbier, whose son Otto Warmbier was jailed by North Korea and died days after returning to the US, would attend the opening ceremony as a guest of Mr Pence.
Mr Warmbier and his wife, Cindy, were guests of US President Donald Trump at last week's State of the Union address.
The North has conducted a series of missile tests designed to demonstrate its nuclear capability.
North Korea's participation in the Olympics, which run from 9 to 25 February, was a sudden turn towards reconciliation.
It came after the hereditary leader Kim Jong-un extended an olive branch to the South in a New Year message, saying he was open to dialogue and could send a team to the Games.
As well as the ice hockey players, North Korean athletes will compete in skiing and figure skating events. It is also sending hundreds of delegates, cheerleaders and performers.
However, there have already been some bumps in the road to reconciliation.
Earlier this week it emerged that the North had scheduled a large-scale military parade for 8 February, the day before the Winter Olympics commences.
Amid negative headlines, North Korea said no-one had the right to take issue with its plans and promptly cancelled a cultural event it was to hold jointly with the South.
Meanwhile, although Seoul and Washington have agreed to delay the annual big joint military exercises which always enrage the North, they will still go ahead at the end of the Paralympics.