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Spain mounted a sweeping anti-terror operation on Friday after a suspected Islamist militant drove a van into crowds in Barcelona, killing 13 people before fleeing, in what police suspect was one of multiple planned attacks. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the deadly rampage along the city's most famous avenue on Thursday, which was packed with tourists taking an afternoon stroll. The death toll could rise, with more than 100 injured, authorities said. As security forces hunted for the van's driver, who was seen escaping on foot, police said they had killed five attackers on Thursday night in Cambrils, a town south of Barcelona, to thwart a separate attack using explosive belts. Six civilians and a police officer were injured in Cambrils when the attackers ran them over in a car, before police shot them dead and carried out controlled explosions. Police said the Cambrils incident was linked to the van attack in Barcelona. Before the van plowed into the tree-lined walkway of Las Ramblas, one person was killed in an explosion in a house in a separate town southwest of Barcelona, police said. Residents there were preparing explosives, a police source added. Police said they had arrested two men, a Moroccan and a man from Spain's north African enclave of Melilla, though neither was the van driver. They added that the situation in Cambrils was under control. It was still not clear how many people had been involved in the van attack and other incidents on Thursday. Witnesses to the van attack said the white vehicle had zigzagged at high speed down Las Ramblas, ramming pedestrians and cyclists, sending some hurtling through the air and leaving bodies strewn in its wake. Islamic State's Amaq news agency said: "The perpetrators of the Barcelona attack are soldiers of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to calls for targeting coalition states" - a reference to a US-led coalition against the Sunni militant group. Spain has several hundred soldiers in Iraq providing training to local forces in the fight against Islamic State, but they are not involved in ground operations. The Islamic State claim could not immediately be verified. If the involvement of Islamist militants is confirmed, it would be the latest in a string of attacks in the past 13 months in which they have used vehicles to bring carnage to the streets of European cities. That modus operandi - crude, deadly and very hard to prevent - has killed well over 100 people in Nice, Berlin, London and Stockholm. British tourist Keith Welling, who arrived in Barcelona on Wednesday with his wife and 9-year-old daughter, said they saw the van drive past them down the avenue and took refuge in a restaurant when panic broke out and the crowd started running. "People were shouting and we heard a bang and someone cried that it was a gunshot ... Me and my family ran into the restaurant along with around 40 other people. "At first people were going crazy in there, lots of people crying, including a little girl around three years old." It was the deadliest attack in Spain since March 2004, when Islamist militants placed bombs on commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people and wounding more than 1,800. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced three days of official mourning for what he called a "jihadist attack." The Spanish royal household said on Twitter: “They are murderers, nothing more than criminals who are not going to terrorise us. All of Spain is Barcelona.” US President Donald Trump said: "The United States condemns the terror attack in Barcelona, Spain, and will do whatever is necessary to help." He added: "Be tough & strong, we love you!" BODIES ON THE GROUND Police said the two men detained on Thursday had been arrested in two towns, Ripoll and Alcanar, both in the region of Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital. The explosion was also in the town of Alcanar, in the early hours of Thursday. One person died and another was injured in that incident, police said. Police said they also shot dead on Thursday a man who had driven a car into a police checkpoint in Barcelona, though they had no evidence he was connected with the van attack. Mobile phone footage showed several bodies strewn along the Ramblas, some motionless. Paramedics and bystanders bent over them, treating them and trying to comfort those still conscious. Around them, the boulevard was deserted, covered in rubbish and abandoned objects including hats, flip-flops and a pram. Belgium's foreign minister said a Belgian was among the dead. Regional head Carles Puigdemont said people had been flocking to hospitals in Barcelona to give blood. Susana Elvira Carolina, 33, who works at a shop on Las Ramblas, had just entered her building when the van struck. "We had a window and you could see the bodies lying from there, you could see how people were run over ... We were shutting down the blinds but people kept coming in and we had to keep it open so they could enter the shop." TOURIST DRAW The incident took place at the height of the tourist season in Barcelona, which is one of Europe's top travel destinations with at least 11 million visitors a year. French President Emmanuel Macron, whose nation has suffered some of Europe's deadliest militant attacks in recent years, tweeted: "All my thoughts and France's solidarity to the victims of the tragic attack in Barcelona." Authorities in Vic, a small town outside Barcelona, said a van had been found there in connection with the attack. Spanish media had earlier reported that a second van had been hired as a getaway vehicle. Barcelona is the capital of the wealthy northeastern region of Catalonia, which plans to hold a popular vote on Oct. 1 on whether it should secede from Spain. The central government says the vote cannot go ahead because it is unconstitutional. Before Thursday's attack, government data showed that police had arrested 11 suspected jihadists in the Barcelona area so far this year, more than anywhere else in Spain.  ....

Published at: 2017-08-18 05:00:04

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 struck on Friday in the South Atlantic Ocean about 790 km (490 miles) north of Ascension Island, the US Geological Survey said. There was no immediate tsunami warning issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center after the quake, which hit at a depth of about 19 km (12 miles).....

Published at: 2017-08-18 05:00:04

Officials of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) arrested two people along with 700 grams of heroin from a passenger bus in Lowjani level-crossing on Jessore-Benapole road on Thursday. Tipped off that drug smugglers were carrying drugs in a bus, a team of DNC officials intercepted it around 4:00pm and seized 700 grams of heroin worth Tk 7.0 million (Tk 70 lakh), said DNC deputy director (acting) Nazmul Kabir, reports UNB. Later, they detained supervisor and helper of the bus -- Abul Kalam Babu, son of Habibur Rahman of Jessore, and Rajib Sarder, 25, son of Abdul Jabber Sarder of Abhaynagar Upazila of Jessore -- in this connection, said Nazmul. A case was filed with Jhikargachha police station in this connection.....

Published at: 2017-08-18 05:00:04

Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) said on Thursday it was placing electric vehicles at the centre of its product strategy - one that includes plans for a premium long-distance electric car as it seeks to catch up to Tesla (TSLA.O) and other rivals. Like Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), Hyundai had initially championed fuel cell technology as the future of eco-friendly vehicles but has found itself shifting electric as Tesla shot to prominence and battery-powered cars have gained government backing in China. Toyota is now also working on longer distance, fast-charging electric vehicles, local media have reported. The South Korean automaker is planning to launch an electric sedan under its high-end Genesis brand in 2021 with a range of 500 km (310 miles) per charge. It will also introduce an electric version of its Kona small sport utility vehicle (SUV) with a range of 390 km in the first half of next year. "We're strengthening our eco-friendly car strategy, centring on electric vehicles," Executive Vice President Lee Kwang-guk told a news conference, calling the technology mainstream and realistic. The automaker and affiliate Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS), which together rank fifth in global vehicle sales, also said they were adding three plug-in vehicles to their plans for eco-friendly cars, bringing the total to 31 models by 2020. Underscoring Hyundai's electric shift, those plans include eight battery-powered and two fuel-cell vehicles - a contrast to its 2014 announcement for 22 models, of which only two were slated to be battery-powered. Hyundai also confirmed a Reuters report that it is developing its first dedicated electric vehicle platform, which will allow the company to produce multiple models with longer driving ranges. Last year, it launched its first mass-market pure electric car IONIQ, but the vehicle's per-charge driving range is much shorter than offerings from Tesla and General Motors (GM.N). HYDROGEN SUV Hyundai unveiled a near production version of its new fuel cell SUV with a driving range of more than 580 km per charge, compared with the 415 km for its current Tucson fuel cell SUV. The mid-sized SUV will be launched in Korea early next year, followed by US and European markets. A fuel cell electric bus is slated to be unveiled late this year, while a sedan-type fuel cell car is also planned. Even so, analysts noted that gaining traction with fuel cells was going to be a long hard slog partly due to a lack of charging infrastructure. "Hyundai will achieve economies of scale for fuel cell cars by 2035 at the earliest," said Lee Hang-koo, a senior research fellow at Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade. "Before that, Hyundai has no choice but to rely on battery cars," he said. Hyundai launched the world's first mass-produced fuel cell vehicle in 2013, dubbed the Tucson Fuel Cell, but sales trailed Toyota's rival offering, Mirai. Hyundai has sold about 862 of Tucson Fuel Cell vehicles since its 2013 launch, while Toyota sold some 3,700 Mirai Fuel Cell vehicles since its 2014 launch. In Korea, there are 10 fuel cell charging stations, only one tenth of 100 in Japan, Hyundai said.  ....

Published at: 2017-08-18 05:00:04

Garment workers are expected to get festival allowance by August 24, a body said. The decision came at the 35th meeting on 'Crisis Management Core Committee on RMG Sector' held Wednesday at the labour ministry in the city. State minister for labour Mujibul Haque presided over the meeting. The minister called on garment factory owners to pay festival allowance, monthly wage for the month of August and other arrears before the Eid. He also asked the factory owners and workers to reach a consensus over the payment of monthly wages to avert any untoward incident in the country's readymade garment sector before the Eid. A Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association official informed the meeting that the association has decided that its member factories would pay festival allowance by August 24. In the meeting, labour leaders demanded fixation of a date for the monthly wage payment for the month of August before the Eid-ul-Azha. The meeting was told that amount of partial wages largely depends on the relationship between factory owners and workers. Additional secretary of labour ministry Miah Abdullah Mamun, inspector general of Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments Shamsuzzaman Bhuiyan, Industrial Police director general Md Nowser Ali and representatives from garment factory owners and workers, among others, were present in the meeting.     munni_fe@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-08-17 05:00:06