Kasmaal  Independent Somali news and analysis website .

Declaring that America is open for business under his leadership, President Donald Trump told a gathering of political and business elites on Friday that the economic growth taking place in the US also benefits the rest of the world. © Fabrice Coffrini, AFP | US President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the World Economic […]

24 January 2018 – Grappling with turbulent politics, persisting terrorism and the risk of famine, Somalia must make 2018 a year of carrying out reforms, a senior United Nations official said Wednesday, urging more international financial and technical support for the Horn of Africa country that underwent a peaceful transition of power to a new […]

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday threatened to expand Turkey’s offensive against the Afrin region in Syria to other cities in the country’s north to remove the presence of the Syrian Kurdish militia that Ankara views as terrorists. Turkish army tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APC) are seen near the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province. […]

Firefighters battle a blaze engulfing Sejong Hospital in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday morning. / Yonhap Thick gray smoke billows from Sejong Hospital in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday morning. / Yonhap – As of 3:30 p.m. , 37 dead, 18 in critical condition.  – The victims are mostly elderly. A doctor and two nurses also died.  – The death toll could rise.  – No fire sprinklers at the hospital.  – The fire started at 7:30 a.m. on the first floor.  – President Moon Jae-in convened an emergency staff meeting.  – The second major deadly fire in South Korea in recent weeks.  —————————————————————————————–  Thirtyseven people died in a fire at Sejong Hospital in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday morning. Most of the victims were believed to have been aged patients receiving long-term intensive care who couldn’t move without help. Among the victims were a doctor and two nurses, fire officials said.  The death toll could rise as 18 people injured were in critical condition, they said. Victims were believed to have inhaled toxic smoke. At least 113 people suffered minor injuries.  “As of 3:30 p.m. , 37 were confirmed dead, ” Choi Man-woo, chief of Miryang city’s fire department, said.  “The death toll could rise because some of the injured are in very critical condition.”  The death toll was earlier said to be 41 but was corrected to 37.  Choi said the hospital had no fire sprinklers. But hospital officials said the facility was not legally required to have them because it was not large enough.  Police are investigating the fire’s cause. They initially excluded arson.  Authorities said the fire started at 7:30 a.m. at the rear of the emergency room on the hospital’s first floor. Investigators secured testimony that smoke was first spotted in the dressing room for nurses next to the emergency room.  Hospital head Sohn Kyeong-chul told reporters that two electric heaters were operating in the room and they seem to have caused the blaze.  There were 194 patients in the building, according to firefighters. The blaze was brought under control about 10:30 a.m.  “Most of the victims were found in the emergency ward on the first floor of the building,” Choi said. “Others were found on the second and fifth floors.”  All patients in the wing for seniors were evacuated safely, he said.  “Smoke billowed from the back of the building,” a nurse was quoted as saying as she escaped.  […]

While North Korean delegation’s visits here are making headlines, the South Korean delegation that visited the North from Tuesday through Thursday got no coverage from Pyongyang’s media. The delegation returned home after inspecting sites for events at Mount Geumgang and the Masikyrong Ski Resort ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The little coverage of the […]

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has asked the NATO Secretary General to raise the issue of Turkey’s military operation against Kurds in Afrin as tensions rise in the region. Empty shells are seen next to a Turkish army howitzer on the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province, Turkey January 23, 2018 © Umit Bektas / Reuters […]

US President Donald Trump threatened to withhold aid to the Palestinians if they did not pursue peace with Israel, saying the Palestinians had snubbed the United States by not meeting Vice President Mike Pence during a recent visit. US President Donald Trump speaks with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during the (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, […]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday maintained that the drone attack in Kurram Agency targeted an Afghan refugee camp in tribal area after a US statement said that the drone strike hit militant hideout. The drone strike, which took place well inside Pakistani territory on Wednesday, killed two people . US Embassy in a statement earlier today […]

US President Donald Trump landed in Zurich on Thursday aboard Air Force One at the start of his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Trump flew in to Zurich. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP Trump was transferring to a helicopter to complete the journey to the alpine village, where the world’s political and business elite […]