International

By DPA, London : Strikes that threatened to paralyse air traffic in Britain at peak holiday time were averted late Monday after airport operator BAA and the union came to an agreement. Details of the deal between BAA and union Unite would be made public Tuesday. If the strikes had gone ahead, two of London's main airports, Heathrow and Stansted, would have been affected, as well as Southampton and three Scottish airports - Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Washington : US Congressional leaders have agreed on a budget bill of $1 trillion to finance the federal government until 2015 and avert a...

Kabul: At least 12 people were killed in the US plane crash in Afghanistan, for which the Taliban militants claimed responsibility on Friday. The US...

By DPA, Moscow : Eleven Russian sailors drowned in the Arctic after their rescue vessel went down in stormy seas on a mission to try to help a fishing boat in distress, it was reported Saturday. The Moscow daily Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that the Alexey Kulakowski sank in the early hours of Friday in the Laptev Sea, around 35 km outside the port of Tiksi. The 30-year-old captain of the ship, and two mechanics, aged around 19 and 20 years, from the sinking vessel were rescued.

By IANS,

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Tbilisi: Georgia should stop criticising Russia and creating new problems in bilateral relations, Georgian parliament speaker David Usupashvili has said.

By Xinhua Beijing : China will act to accelerate development of its service sector by providing policy and investment support and improving managerial aspect, a top planning official said Thursday. "The main problems of the service industry include its small scale, low quality, inefficient structure, slow reforms and weak innovation," said Xia Nong, deputy director-general of the National Development and Reform Commission's (NDRC) department of industrial policies.

By DPA Colombo : Heavy fighting erupted between government troops and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka Wednesday, leaving at least 30 rebels and six government soldiers dead, military officials said. Fierce fighting broke out in Muhamalai, 390 km north of the capital, after Tamil rebels made an attempt to breach the army's forward defence lines, a military spokesman in Colombo said.

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By Xinhua, London : Notting Hill Carnival, the largest street party in Europe, unveiled itself on Sunday with tens of thousands of people beating the poor weather to celebrate with colors and music in west London. With this year's theme "Welcoming the World," the annual carnival sets out to impress the world that London is a prime place for world class events. More than 1.5 million people are expected to attend the carnival both on Sunday and Monday, in what promises to be the best and biggest spectacle of color, energy and music.

By IANS, Manila : A volcano erupted Monday in central Philippines with ash reaching as high as two km, authorities said.

By IANS Quito (Ecuador) : Rangers of the Galapagos national park have discovered seven dead cubs of the highly threatened sea lion on the San Cristobal Island, Spanish news agency EFE reported Thursday. The carcasses bore cut marks and windpipes had been ruptured, according to a report, which blamed the deaths on roaming dogs. Park management, police environmental crime unit and other agencies have launched an operation to capture the three dogs suspected of the killings.

By IANS, Vancouver : Wally Oppal, a top Indian Canadian politician and British Columbia provincial attorney general, was defeated in the assembly election Tuesday after a recount of votes. In the May 12 assembly elections in British Columbia province, Oppal was declared winner by just two votes in his home constituency of Delta South on the outskirts of Vancouver. However, Canadian election laws mandate a fresh recount if the margin of victory is very thin.

By IANS, Jakarta : The Indonesian defence ministry plans to create a special force called "cyber army" to tackle attacks by hackers against the state's Internet portals and websites.

By P.K. Balachandran, IANS Colombo : A Sri Lankan Hindu activist is campaigning to create awareness about the ancient Nandi (sacred bull) flag and revive the practice of hoisting it at religious functions and temple festivals. "Muslims raise the Islamic flag, the Buddhist raise theirs, but Hindus do not hoist any though they have the Nandi flag," says Sinnadurai Dhanapalaa, senior vice president of the Colombo branch of the World Saiva Council.

By IANS, London : Singer Kieth Urban says he and his wife, actress Nicole Kidman, have decided to help Haiti survivors by funding a school in the quake hit nation. "We're actually going to be funding a school down there for the next five years," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Urban as saying. "It's in Port-Au-Prince. The kids will also have one hot meal a day. They'll have all of their medical taken care of by the school, and clothing, as well," he added.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Oslo : Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik has been officially charged with acts of terror over the 77 people he killed in twin attacks in Oslo, a prosecutor said.

By Xinhua, Jakarta : The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) expressed its welcome to the progress made by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on dismantling its nuclear facilities. "DPRK has been a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) since2000. We certainly hope that this positive development will relax tension and anxiety in our region," said Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan in a statement issued here Tuesday by the ASEAN Secretariat.

By IANS,

By DPA, Sydney : Shocking, distressing, unforgivable, unacceptable: with those words the leader of Australia's biggest state accepted the resignation of a cabinet minister who had been shown on television leaving Sydney's best-known gay sex club. Family man David Campbell, 52, apologised to his wife, his party, to those who had elected him and to his cabinet colleagues. "These are some choices that I've made," Campbell said. "They've caused a great deal of embarrassment."

By IANS,

By IANS

London : A white policeman has accused his department of racial discrimination after a British Indian colleague was promoted ahead of him.

Peter Richmond told an employment tribunal Wednesday that he was next in line for the post of inspector with West Yorkshire police, one of the country's most racially divided areas, but senior officers ignored departmental protocol and promoted Kash Singh ahead of him as a token representative.

By IANS Colombo : The Sri Lankan government said Thursday that it would consider peace talks if the guerrillas laid down arms and came to the negotiating table. "We have not closed the door for talks," cabinet spokesman Anura Priyadarshana Yapa told the media here. "In future, if the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) lays down arms and comes for talks, the government will reconsider its stand," he said.

By Xinhua, Manila : Philippine police have arrested 27 people suspected to have been involved in extra-judicial killings of left-wing activists and journalists, reported the official Philippines News Agency on Sunday. A total of 141 cases of extra-judicial killings have been "verified" by the Philippine National Police Task Force "Usig", which was set up by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo one year ago, said the report.

By सिद्धांत मोहन, TwoCircles.net वाराणसी: बात को रखने से पहले हेडली और उज्जवल निकम की वह बातचीत पढ़ लेते हैं जिसे आप सभी लगभग कई...

By IANS, London: Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, known for her sense of style, has been voted for sporting the best celebrity hair in a new poll.

By IANS, Sydney : One often hears about bullying among school kids, but an online survey has shown more than 99.6 percent of their teachers also face bullying by principals and executives. More than 800 support staff, teachers, executives and principals from primary and secondary schools took part in the first online survey in Australia, conducted jointly by Australian Catholic University (ACU National) and the University of New England. The vast majority of respondents had more than 21 years of teaching experience.

Vienna/Rome, Jan 23 (DPA) Hidden away in the northern Italian Alps, a small village is planning a big revolution against mighty Rome. In a wake-up call to the capital, the village of San Pietro di Cadore, unhappy with the lack of attention - and money - from Rome, said it wanted to join Italy's northern neighbour Austria. Becoming an Austrian enclave would be the only option for the ailing community. If mayor Silvano Pontil Scala had his way, the 1,800 village inhabitants would - figuratively speaking - pack up and move to Austria, despite lack of joint borders, language or history.

By IANS, Tashkent : Uzbekistan's parliament voted Thursday to ban foreign military bases on its territory, reported Xinhua.

By IRNA New Delhi : At least 31 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres and a soldier were killed in clashes in the embattled northern Sri Lanka even as Air force fighter jets Friday pounded a strategic Tiger location in rebel-dominated Kilinochchi region. "Air Force jet aircraft pounded a meeting place of LTTE militants South of Piramanthlakulam in Puthukudiyirippu today," PTI reported here quoting Sri Lankan defence ministry, adding pilots confirmed the target was successfully hit.

By DPA, London : Attempts by opposition Conservatives to tighten Britain's liberal abortion laws were defeated late Tuesday, when Parliament voted to leave the upper time limit for pregnancy termination at 24 weeks. A number of Conservative motions, ranging from lowering the legal limit to between 12 and 22 weeks, were rejected. In the last of a series of votes, members of Parliament (MPs) defeated a reduction to 22 weeks by a vote of 304-232.

By IANS, Beijing : Thousands of people were evacuated Wednesday as central China's Wuhan city braced for flood waters from two swollen rivers. According to the Yangtze Water Resources Commission, flood peaks of the mainstream of the Yangtze River and the Hanjiang River, the Yangtze's longest tributary, are expected to converge in Wuhan within 24 hours, Xinhua reported. "It is very rare for the two rivers' flood peaks to arrive at Wuhan at the same time," said an official. About 5,000 residents in Xiantao and another 25,000 in southeast Wuhan were evacuated overnight.

Tehran, Jan 21, IRNA — United Nations agencies and their non-governmental partners Wednesday warned of the impact of the Israeli blockade on Gaza’s population and on health services, and repeated their call for an immediate opening of the border crossings.

By Arun Kumar, IANS, Washington : Life in the American capital was virtually paralysed Thursday as a massive winter storm moving north walloped the Washington...

By DPA, Washington : US President Barack Obama has said the country's struggling economy is on its way to recovery, but warned that the job market will be the last thing to return to normal. In an evening press conference at the White House Wednesday, Obama defended his own prescriptions for nursing the economy back to health and urged the US public to give his plans more time to work. "We have been able to pull our economy back from the brink," Obama said in his opening remarks, noting that he inherited an economy mired in its worst recession in decades.

By DPA, Munich : Hypo Real Estate (HRE), the German company caught up in the wave of western bank failures, said Saturday a government-backed bail-out it was seeking had collapsed. The mortgage lender said assurances of loans from several other financial institutions had expired. Newspaper reports said leading German banks had discovered that HRE's troubles were more serious than first thought. HRE, which mainly lends to commercial projects and to build public facilities, is the first German casualty of the crisis that has spread from New York in the past month.

By KUNA, MOSCOW : Russia has expressed its readiness to move forward on the path to reducing strategic weapons, taking into account the interests of the Russian national security. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian television today that Russia is ready to continue discussions that would ensure the maintenance of a system of restrictions on arms control and reduction of strategic offensive weapons. Lavrov expressed his satisfaction because the U.S. administration gave the issue a great deal of attention.

United Nations : The UN Children's Fund (Unicef) has said that it needs more than $200 million to respond to the Ebola virus disease...

By IANS, Washington : At least 10 people were injured in a crash between a rural transit bus and a freight train in Pennsylvania state in the US, a media report said.

London : Part of the British Parliament was evacuated Monday morning after a suspicious package was discovered, media reported. People in the offices of Portcullis...

By IANS, New York : Four Indian and two Chinese companies will cut the price of a key malaria drug and control rates of a vital ingredient following a pact signed Thursday with the US-based Clinton Foundation, which works towards finding solutions to issues such as poverty and healthcare. The Indian companies are generic drug firms Cipla and IPCA Laboratories, which manufacture malaria drugs called Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT), and Calyx and Mangalam Drugs, which turn the artemisinin plant extract into an active pharmaceutical ingredient.

By IANS, Geneva : The hijacker of an Ethiopian Airlines flight, who has surrendered to police, has been identified as the co-pilot, according to Geneva...

By IANS, Durban : Chinese President Xi Jinping attended Wednesday a breakfast meeting between political and business leaders of BRICS.

By Xinhua Colombo : The Sri Lankan Army has said it captured an area controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northern Mannar district and killed 10 rebels. Army statement Monday said the troops captured an area of about 600 sq metres in eastern Mannar at around 5.30 a.m. within an LTTE defence line. "Ten rebels who resisted the move lost their lives in the surprise attack. At least 10 more insurgents received injuries in the skirmishes," said the statement.

By IANS, Moscow: Russia is ready to destroy US missile defence facilities in Europe if Moscow considers them as real threats, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has said.

By DPA, Tokyo : One-time opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama was elected Japan's prime minister Wednesday by parliament, ushering in a sea change in Japanese politics. Both chambers of the Diet selected the 62-year-old self-proclaimed reformer after his Democratic Party of Japan won a landslide victory in Aug 30 parliamentary elections, trouncing the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had governed nearly uninterrupted for more than 50 years.

By IANS, Moscow : About 200 Kremlin guard recruits took the oath of allegiance at the WWII memorial hill in Moscow Saturday, a defence ministry spokesman said.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Mezhdurechensk (Russia) : The search for 24 missing miners in a coalmine in West Siberia was Thursday temporarily halted due to threat of more explosions, officials said. At least 66 miners were killed when two blasts ripped through the Raspadskaya coalmine last week. Twenty-four workers are still missing. "Search work has been suspended. Our goal is to extinguish fires and lower gas concentration levels, and only then can we send people in," said Pavel Plat, chief military expert of the Emergency Situations Ministry.

By Xinhua, Wellington : The election campaign in New Zealand moved into its final four weeks on Sunday, with four parties formally launching their campaigns in Auckland. The ruling Labor party and the largest opposition National party booked the big venues, with Labor at the Town Hall and National at the Skycity convention center.

By IANS, Kathmandu : The growing turmoil in Nepal over Vice President Paramananda Jha having to take his oath of office and secrecy again in Nepali headed for a climax Sunday with the government asking him to take afresh the oath at 4 p.m. and a defiant Jha indicating he was going on indefinite leave.

By DPA, Shanghai : Germany's Sebastian Vettel clinched a rain-soaked Chinese Formula One Grand Prix in commanding fashion ahead of team-mate Mark Webber in a Red Bull one-two finish in Shanghai Sunday. Overall leader Jenson Button, who had won the first two races of the season, had to make do with third place, with Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello fourth. It was the second Grand Prix victory for 21-year-old Vettel who last season became the youngest race winner in F1 history when he won the Italian GP in Monza in a Toro Rosso.

By IANS, Washington : US President Barack Obama has signed a $633 billion defence bill for the next year, the White House said Thursday.

By IRNA, New York : Barack Obama is staying tight-lipped on whether he will choose Hillary Clinton as his vice president if he gets American's top job. If Senator Clinton is serious about wanting the number two spot, she may well be interviewed by her former rival's team of three people employed to vet prospective candidates. The ex-First Lady officially suspended her campaign for the White House yesterday, surrounded by hundreds of people roaring applause for her effort so far.

Bangkok : A Thai government party Thursday sent a letter to US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, saying Thailand's democratic...

By EFE, Mexico City : Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said that he is eliminating the federal departments of tourism, agrarian reform and public function as part of an austerity plan to save about $6 billion. In a message to the nation from the Los Pinos presidential residence, Calderon announced that the Tourism Secretariat will become part of the Economy Secretariat, as is the case in countries like Spain, France and Canada.

By Prensa Latina, Phnom Penh : The re-election of Prime Minister Hu Sen and his PPC (Popular Party of Cambodia) party seems to be sure Monday, with an absolute majority of 123 parliamentary seats, according to preliminary reports. The PCC headed the vote followed by the Sam Rainsy party, the spokesman of the National Electoral Committee, Khan Keo Mono, affirmed.

By IANS, Johannesburg : At least 18 people were shot and feared dead or injured in a conflict at a platinum mine in South Africa, media reports said.

By Xinhua Shanghai (China) : At least 15 people were killed and one was missing Wednesday when a ship sank after colliding with another at the estuary of the Yangtze river, the Shanghai Maritime authority said. The cargo ship, with a crew of 17 aboard, sank at 1:30 a.m. at an anchorage at the Shanghai estuary. One member of the crew was rescued. The sunken ship was hoisted out of the water as rescue operations continued. Local authorities have started an investigation into the cause of the accident.

By RIA Novosti, Tbilisi : Georgia wants to find peaceful solutions to its disputes with Russia, but will retaliate against any aggressive actions from Moscow, a deputy defense minister warned on Saturday. Georgia has accused Russia of attempting to annex two Georgian breakaway republics, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, since Moscow announced plans to strengthen links with the provinces.

By DPA, Tokyo : Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso dissolved the House of Representatives Tuesday to clear the way for general elections to be held Aug 30. The move followed a cabinet vote to accept embattled Aso's plans for dissolving the Diet's lower house. The general election would be the first since September 2005 when popular former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi helped the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secure a solid majority, gaining 296 of 480 seats in the lower house.

By IANS,

By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS London : Retrospective changes made to visas allowing highly skilled migrants to live and work in Britain are "conspicuously unfair" and constitute an abuse of power by the government, a British court was told. "The conspicuous unfairness leaps from the page," Michael Fordham, counsel for the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme (HSMP) Forum, told the high court Wednesday. He accused the government of "moving the goalposts" and described HSMP visa changes as "unlawful, unreasonable and unfair by a considerable margin".

Kathmandu : Nepal's constitution drafting body, the Constituent Assembly, is preparing to adopt a fast-track model to promulgate a new constitution for the country...

By NNN-Govt Portal, Colombo : Commending the positive stand of the Government of India in combating terrorism, the Minister of Media, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said that the Indian Prime Minister and his Government deserve praise from the Sri Lankan Government for the stand taken on terrorism. Speaking at a media briefing held in Colombo on Tuesday, the Minister observed that the Indian Prime Minister has made a clear statement stressing the importance of uniting to combat terrorism.

Washington: The US had recently attempted to rescue a number of American hostages, including slain journalist James Foley held in Syria by the Islamic...

Dhaka: Bangladesh's Supreme court on Wednesday upheld its previous verdict on the death sentence of two war-crime convicts Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Salauddin...

By IANS, Colombo : At least 28 Tamil Tigers and eight soldiers were killed and over 60 injured in fierce clashes in Sri Lanka's northern Wanni region, the defence ministry said Monday. At least 17 of the guerrillas were killed Sunday when the troops smashed their way into the bunkers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Weli Oya in a multi-pronged offensive, the ministry said.

By IANS Los Angeles : After opening the US Senate with the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra, Hindu priest Rajan Zed will open the California State Senate's session in a similar way Aug 27. Zed will read out from the Rig Veda, dating back to 1,500 BC, besides reciting lines from Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end the prayer with "Om", the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to begin and conclude religious work.