Myanmar tops natural gas production in Asia
By Xinhua
Yangon : Myanmar is the biggest producer of natural gas in Asia and has the potential to ascend higher globally because many gas projects remain to be implemented, Yangon Times reported Wednesday.
Currently, the country ranks 10th at the world level with its gas sale, up from 11th previously, while it represents the first in Asia, Yangon Times quoted the World Energy magazine as saying.
Chad president wants quickly a planned European force
By SPA
Paris : Chadian President Idriss Deby issued a solemn call on Thursday for the planned European force to quickly take up positions in Chad.
The force has delayed deployment because of a rebel attack on the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, and ensuing violence. However, Deby has said he is in full control of the situation.
He told France's Europe-1 radio that had the force already been deployed it would have lightened the load, allowing him to remove troops at the border protecting refugees.
More Tibetans protest in China, Dalai Lama concerned
By DPA
Beijing : Tibetan independence protests continued in monastery towns in western China Sunday, as the Dalai Lama told the BBC he had "grave concerns" that more bloodshed could follow after dozens died in Lhasa city.
One resident of Lhasa, Tibet's capital, said hundreds of Tibetans were continuing protests in the city despite a military crackdown after riots erupted Friday.
Tibetan protesters took to the streets Saturday night, shouting that they wanted to rid Lhasa of all Chinese people, a Chinese resident told DPA by telephone.
Russia not to lift EU vegetable ban: Putin
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia will not poison its own people by lifting the ban it imposed on vegetable imports from the European Union, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Friday.
Shipbuilding top priority for India: Modi to Hyundai head
Ulsan (South Korea) : Shipbuilding is a top priority for India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the chairman of Korean manufacturing giant Hyundai Heavy...
Countries unite against tobacco industry interference
Global tobacco treaty meeting adopts strong guidelines for protecting against industry abuse
Durban: Today on 22 November 2008, 160 countries agreed on strong new guidelines to block tobacco industry interference in global health policies and the implementation of the global tobacco treaty.
Nepal’s Saarc attendance under cloud
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Nepal's participation at the 15th Saarc summit scheduled to be held in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo Aug 2-3 has become doubtful with the former Maoist guerrillas Sunday raising strong objections to the caretaker government of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala representing the Himalayan republic at the regional forum.
Mercedes-Benz to expand Brazilian production unit
By IANS/EFE,
Rio de Janiero : German automobile giant Mercedes-Benz will expand its commercial vehicle manufacturing unit in Brazil with a view to increase annual production capacity.
The facility at Sao Bernardo do Campo near Sao Paulo has been sanctioned a loan of 1.2 billion reais ($674.1 million) in order to increase production from 65,000 to 75,000 units annually.
The deal was signed Friday by the president of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil, Jurgen Ziegler, and the head of Brazil's BNDES state development bank, Luciano Coutinho, the lender said in a statement.
German hostages released by Philippine rebels
Manila: Two German hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf group have been released, said a senior Philippine military official Friday evening.
Gregorio Pio Catapang, chief...
First Japan Woman as PM Hopeful
By Prensa Latina,
Tokyo : Japan's former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike officially presented her candidature for the prime minister's post on Monday, thus becoming the first woman disputing that position in the country's history.
Koike, 56, will run for the leadership of the governmental Democrat Liberal Party, with the elections set for September 22.
The former TV anchorwoman told press she has received the enthusiastic support of her colleagues, and added the country could perfectly have a woman as head of the government to overcome the standstill in the Japanese society.
Tension clears in Zimbabwe over election results release delay
By IRNA
Pretoria : Four days after elections in Zimbabwe, pressure is growing on the country's electoral commission to issue results.
Amid intensifying global scrutiny, Morgan Tsvangirai said his Movement for Democratic Change would issue its own results if the commission did not.
Tsvangirai has said he is convinced he defeated President Robert Mugabe but that he will not claim victory until the official count is known.
He denied rumours of a secret deal allowing Mugabe to step down.
The MDC leader said no negotiations would take place until the final result was known.
Violent incidents mar Australian election campaign
By DPA,
Sydney : Two violent incidents have marred the start of the Australian election campaign.
Police have charged two men in Adelaide after a Liberal Party candidate was allegedly punched during an argument over the treatment of asylum-seekers.
Jassmine Wood told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that two men approached her and an assistant as they campaigned at a shopping centre. She said they criticised her party's border protection policy before throwing punches.
S Korean president: U.S. positive to resolve beef problem
By Xinhua,
Seol : South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Sunday that the U.S. government has shown a "positive" stance to restrain beef exports to South Korea.
"The South Korean government's stance is firm that U.S. beef from cattle older than 30 months wont' be imported in any cases," the president was quoted as saying by his spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.
"I'm notified of a positive reply (from the U.S.)," the president said after a meeting with Lee Hoi-chang, leader of the minor opposition Liberty Forward Party.
Ten trendy gadgets from US tech shows
By DPA,
San Francisco/Las Vegas : Cash-strapped consumers may not be able to afford much in the way of new tech toys these days. But who says they can't look? For their ogling pleasure there are plenty of desirable new gadgets debuting at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and at MacWorld in San Francisco.
1: Green phone - Motorola's mobile phone fortunes have fallen long and hard since the days when its Razr was the must-have device for the trendy. Motorola's latest attempt at trend setting is the Renew - the planet's first mobile phone made from recycled plastic bottles.
Over 5,000 pirates operate off Somali coast: Russian Navy
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow: At least five large groups of pirates totalling over 5,000 people are operating in the Gulf of Aden, the first deputy chief of the Russian Navy General Staff has said.
"Pirates have become more daring and aggressive recently - there were instances when they seized vessels right in front of the ships that were responsible for the security of commercial shipping," Vice Admiral Oleg Burtsev said in an interview on Ekho Moskvy radio station Saturday.
SADC says Zimbabwe impasse over, MDC calls claims malicious
By DPA,
Pretoria/Brussels : Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Tuesday blasted as "malicious" assurances given by southern African leaders at the end of a 12-hour summit that the party had agreed to join President Robert Mugabe in a power-sharing government.
"It's completely malicious," a spokesman for MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai told DPA after South African President Kgalema Motlanthe told reporters that Zimbabwe's four-month-long political impasse had been resolved.
Third undersea cable to bring faster Internet to Asia
By DPA,
Taipei : Several Asian countries plan to jointly build a third Asia-Pacific undersea cable to bring faster Internet service to the region, Taiwan media reported Thursday.
The countries plan to jointly invest $500 million to lay the Asia-Pacific Cable Network 3 (APCN3), according to the Economic Daily News and the Commercial Times, which cited unnamed Chunghwa Telecom Co sources.
The APCN3 would link Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.
One killed in party organised through Facebook
By IANS/EFE,
New York : One person died and eight were wounded in a gun fight at a party in New York that was organised through social network Facebook, police said.
5.1 magnitude quake rattles northeastern Greece
By DPA,
Athens : An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale shook northeastern Greece early Tuesday. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Seismologists at the Athens Geodynamic Institute said the underwater quake took place at 5.06 a.m. and had an epicentre just northeast of Athens, about 40 km northeast of the island of Evia near Mandouri.
The institute corrected their original measurement of the quake, which was 6.6.
Two smaller earthquakes took place a few minutes later.
Save your teeth, stop drinking acidic beverages
By IANS,
Washington: It is known that acidic beverages like sodas and citric juices like grapefruit and orange juice can damage teeth. An expert says the only solution is to stop or at least reduce consumption of these beverages.
Mohamed A. Bassiouny, professor of restorative dentistry at Temple University and co-author of a new study on the subject, outlined three steps to rehabilitate teeth that suffer from dental erosion as a result of the excessive consumption of these products.
Government, ethnic groups close to agreement in Nepal
By DPA
Kathmandu : The Nepalese government and an ethnic group Monday said they were close to clinching a deal to end nearly two weeks of crippling general strike in southern Nepal and to address demands of the ethnic Madhesi community living there.
Leaders of the United Democratic Madhesi Front, which spearheaded the general strike in the southern plains known as Terai, said most of the issues had been resolved.
Fire at World Trade Center in New York
By IANS,
New York : A fire broke out at the One World Trade Center tower in New York Saturday but firefighters managed to put it out in about an hour, media reports said Sunday.
U.S. chief nuclear negotiator leaves Pyongyang
By Xinhua
Pyongyang : U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill told Xinhua Wednesday that he was satisfied with the results of good talks with DPRK Foreign Ministry officials, when he was about to leave Pyongyang for Beijing.
"We had a good today's talks and had a full tour of Yongbyon, Iwould say the disablement activities are going well on schedule," said Hill, also U.S. assistant secretary of state, after he concluded a three-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Shinzo Abe’s successor to be elected next week
Tokyo, Sep 18 (DPA) The vote to choose Japan's next premier is to be held in the Diet on Sep 25, political parties decided Tuesday, nearly a week after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he was resigning.
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) agreed to hold the vote next week, the Kyodo News agency said.
The vote is to come on the heels of an election within Abe's LDP Sunday to choose its premier candidate.
UNICEF Concerned for World Food Crisis
By IANS,
Geneva : The UN Children's Fund expressed concern Tuesday for the impact of food crisis on minors worldwide, as 3.50 million of them die of malnutrition every year.
UNICEF termed "extremely dangerous" the situation of world food production and its ever increasing prices as they are used to produce biofuels.
This situation left families in developing countries without access to wheat, rice or corn, all of which triggered unrest in over a dozen countries, with nearly one hundred deaths so far.
Anti-war activists join protests against UK emergency budget
By IRNA,
London : The British government Tuesday faced protests in a series of demonstrations opposed to public spending cuts announced in an emergency budget to tackle the country’s record deficit.
Peace protesters, led by Stop the War Coalition (STWC) and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), were calling for British troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan and scrapping plans to replace the UK’s Trident nuclear missile system to save money.
NY governor caught with woman in his closet: Report
By IANS,
New York : After his predecessor Eliot Spitzer quit when his $1,000-an-hour romps with call girl Ashley Dupre became public two years ago, current New York Governor David Paterson too is facing rumours of sexacapades.
The state's first African-American governor, who is also legally blind, said to have been found in close encounter with many pretty women, including one in the closet of his mansion, the New York Post reported.
Russia seeks arrest of Ukraine’s ultra-nationalist leader
Moscow : Russian Investigative Committee (IC) issued an arrest warrant Monday for Dmitry Yarosh, leader of Ukraine's radical Right Sector movement.
"The case (against Yarosh)...
Wall Street up as oil price spike spurs energy shares
By IANS,
New York : Major US stock indices rose Wednesday after a surge in oil prices led energy companies to their largest gains in six years, while the Federal Reserve said it would extend borrowing to investment banks.
Crude oil jumped $4.58 to $126.77 per barrel in New York trading as petrol inventories declined, sending an energy sector index up 5.6 percent.
Financial shares were helped by the Fed's decision to extend until January an unprecedented lending programme for investment banks, which have struggled to raise capital amid an ongoing credit crisis in the US.
US airports increase security after foiled plane attack
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington: US authorities have moved to increase security at the country's airports over the Christmas weekend after what lawmakers called a "disturbing" and "extremely serious" attempted terrorist attack on an Amsterdam-Detroit flight.
A Nigerian passenger, who claimed to have ties to Al Qaeda, was subdued after he tried to ignite a powdery substance just before a Northwest Airlines flight with 278 passengers on board landed at Detroit.
Storm batters eastern Philippines, 12 dead, 15 missing
By DPA,
Manila : At least 12 people were killed and 15 others were missing in landslides and floods triggered by a storm battering the eastern Philippines, the Office of Civil Defence (OCD) said Sunday.
Seven of the fatalities were buried in mud and debris when the side of a hill collapsed on a village in Magallanes town in Sorsogon province, 375 km south of Manila.
The OCD said 15 people were missing in the landslide in Magallanes. Rescuers were continuing to search for victims, but bad weather was hampering operations.
China’s Quake-affected Children To Fly Out On Russian Holiday
By Bernama,
Xi'an : The first group of 181 children from China's quake-hit provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi will fly to Russia on Thursday for a three-week recuperative vacation, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
The northwestern Shaanxi Province selected 90 injured or orphaned children from 30 primary schools or secondary schools in the worst-hit Ningqiang and Lueyang counties.
The students, ranging in age from 10 to 16, are learning basic Russian language at the Northwest University, in the provincial capital of Xi'an.
French law to target men who impose wearing of burqa
By DPA,
Paris : The harshest penalties in the French draft bill to ban the Islamic all-body veil, or burqa, is to be imposed on men who force women to wear the garment, the daily Le Figaro reported Friday.
According to the draft of the law examined by the daily, anyone found guilty of forcing a woman to wear the burqa through "violence, threats, abuse of power or authority" faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of up to 15,000 euros ($20,000).
Russia, U.S. may reach deal on missile defense
By Xinhua
Moscow : The talks between Russia and America on missile defense might see an agreement that considers Russia's interests, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
A Russian-American working group on the missile defense, set up under an accord between Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush, meets for the first time on Monday in Washington.
The two-day consultations will be held behind closed doors.
Power tower blasted in S Philippines
By Xinhua,
Manila : A transmission tower of the National Transmission Corp. was "bombed" on Wednesday in the southern Philippine province of North Cotabato, local media reported.
National news network ABS-CBN News said the unidentified assailants used two improvised explosives to topple the tower.
Police are in the pursuit of the suspects and there is no reports of casualties yet.
`We may end up in Hudson’, said pilot before crashing
By DPA,
New York : Cockpit recordings of the ill-fated US Airways plane that crashed in the Hudson River last month reveal that the pilot calmly advised air traffic controllers, "We're going to be in the Hudson".
The Airbus 320 plane crashed in New York's Hudson River Jan 15 after losing both engines, apparently hit by a flock of birds, after taking off from LaGuardia Airport. Miraculously, all 155 passengers and crew survived and were picked up by US Coast Guard vessels and ferries.
Ukraine seeks urgent UN meeting as tensions escalate
Kiev : Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk Thursday called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the Russian military presence in...
Indian American body raises $120,000 for child trafficking victims
By IANS
Washington : A non-profit organisation led by Indian Americans has raised over $120,000 for a shelter, 'Haven of Freedom', for victims of child trafficking.
Stop world’s largest animal killing fair in Nepal: Activists
By IANS,
Kathmandu : Campaigners cutting across different religions Sunday asked the Nepal government to stop a prominent religious fair in the Terai plains where at least 500,000 animals and birds will be sacrificed at the end of this month.
China to take over UNSC rotating presidency
By IANS,
United Nations : China will take over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in June.
Haitian government wants tent cities
By DPA,
Port-au-Prince: In an effort to control growing unease in earthquake-rattled Haiti, the government in Port-au-Prince hopes tent cities can be built outside the capital, aid officials said Monday.
The location of tent cities would have to be approved by Haitian officials, German aid worker Ruediger Ehrler said after a meeting between UN officials and aid groups.
Michelle Obama to visit South Africa, Botswana
By IANS,
Washington : US first lady Michelle Obama will visit South Africa and Botswana later this month to continue her work with young people, the White House said.
Sarkozy’s former wife to marry boyfriend
By DPA
Paris : Former wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz, will marry her boyfriend, French media reported Thursday, citing the Italian fashion house Versace, which will be dressing the bride and groom.
According to Versace, Cecilia and advertising executive Richard Attias will tie the knot in New York City sometime in March. Some sources have given the date as March 22.
Famous Italian tenor Pavarotti dies at 71
By Xinhua
Rome : Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti died early Thursday at the age of 71 in Modena, Italy, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Pavarotti, hailed as the greatest tenor of his generation, underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer last year and had been staying at his villa in Modena in north-central Italy.
Pavarotti had been preparing to leave New York in July 2006 to resume a farewell tour when doctors discovered a malignant pancreatic mass. He was operated upon in a New York hospital and was forced to cancel his remaining concerts in 2006.
Two arrested for racially abusing Gurkha soldiers
By IANS,
London : Two British teenagers have been arrested after shouting racist abuses at Gurkha soldiers.
The incident took place in Folkestone, about 100 km here, last week when the two, aged 17 and 19, allegedly insulted the Gurkhas with taunts of "go home" near their barracks, and has caused outrage among local politicians.
The men are said to belong to the Royal Gurkha Rifles, the former battalion of Prince Harry, son of Prince Charles.
Prince Harry served with the Gurkhas in Afghanistan before his recall earlier this year following a security leak about his whereabouts.
Mario Monti sworn in as Italian premier
By IANS,
Rome : Mario Monti took over as Italy's new premier Wednesday after leading the newly selected cabinet ministers who were sworn in at the presidential palace here.
Indonesia Proposes International Meeting On Food Crisis To Un
By Bernama,
Jakarta : Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has proposed to the United Nations a high level meeting to discuss the food crisis facing the world today, Indonesia's Antara news agency reported.
The president's proposal was revealed by Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda after receiving his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt here on Monday.
"The President has proposed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a high level meeting in response to the development of food crisis in the world today," the foreign minister said.
Campaign Against Extremists To Be Stepped Up In Chechnya’s Mosques
By Bernama,
Grozny : An ideological campaign against the spread of ideas of terrorism and extremism will be stepped up in the mosques and educational institutions in Chechnya's capital Grozny, says a resolution issued at a meeting that was held in the office of Grozny's mayor Muslim Khuchiyev.
Russian news agency, Itar-Tass, reported that Khuchiyev had met with the heads of the city's civilian district administrations, spiritual leaders and chiefs of Interior departments.
The city is rebuilding itself, as new schools, hospitals and mosques are being commissioned, Khuchiyev said.
Kim Jong Il meets Chinese official
By Xinhua,
Pyongyang : North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who is reported to be ill, met a senior Chinese official here Friday, officials said.
Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Thursday met Kim Yong II, the North Korean prime minister.
The Chinese official arrived here Wednesday at the invitation of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea.
Capture Prabhakaran alive, India urges Sri Lanka
By IANS,
New Delhi : India has reiterated that Sri Lanka capture Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran alive and extradite him to India, sources in the external affairs ministry said Tuesday.
"India will continue to request that Prabhakaran be caught alive," a ministry source said.
At the same time, New Delhi is aware that Colombo will hand him over only after trying him in Sri Lanka for the crimes he has committed in that country, the source pointed out.
Brain scans to detect Alzheimer’s decades ahead
By IANS,
London: Experts hope to develop brain scans to detect early symptoms of dementia that may surface 25 years before patients and their families notice any outward development.
Five die in platinum mine violence in South Africa
By IANS,
Johannesburg : Five people have been killed in violence at a platinum mine in northern South Africa, police said.
Russia to supply Iran 100 passenger airliners
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia will sign a deal with Iran to supply 100 Tu-204 and Tu-214 medium-haul passenger airliners, a spokesman of the aircraft manufacturer said Tuesday.
A memorandum of intent was signed last week when a delegation of the United Aircraft Building Corporation (UABC), led by its president Alexei Fyodorov, visited Iran.
The spokesman said a contract, worth an estimated $2.5 billion, would be signed in 2009 and that deliveries would start in 2010.
US plans to sell arms to Iraq, Turkey
By Xinhua
Washington : The US Defence Department has notified Congress that it plans to sell small arms ammunition and explosives worth over $500 million to Iraq and missiles costing $71 million to Turkey.
Castro’s health is always a state secret
By DPA
Havana : The health of Cuban leader Fidel Castro has always been a state secret in the small island country, where he handed over power to his brother in August 2006 following an operation for intestinal bleeding.
On Wednesday morning, he made his departure from power officially, resigning as president of Cuba and its military commander, the Communist Party's official newspaper, Granma, reported.
Somali pirates seize Yemeni cargo ship
By IANS,
Sana'a : Somali pirates are holding a Yemeni cargo ship with 16 crewmembers on board in the Indian Ocean, officials said Monday.
The al-Mahmoud 2 had left the southern port of Aden Dec 18, Yemeni coastguards said. The owner of the vessel notified the security agencies about the seizure, Xinhua reported.
According to Yemeni officials, 41 cargo vessels were seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden region in 2009. About 20,000 ships pass through the area every year.
US apologises for 1882 law targeting Chinese migrants
By IANS,
Beijing : The US House of Representatives has passed a resolution apologising for a discriminating law passed in 1882 that targeted Chinese migrants.
Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister resigns over typhoon damage
By DPA,
Taipei : Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia has resigned for rejecting foreign aid after taiwan was hit by Typhoon Morakot, which left nearly 600 people dead, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Hsia tendered his resignation Monday to take responsibility for the foreign ministry's instruction to Taiwan's embassies and representatives offices to reject foreign countries' aid, the United Daily News said.
The rejection caused a delay in rescue efforts, resulting in higher casualties.
By Monday, the official casualty list was 126 dead, 60 missing and 45 injured.
World population to be 6.75 bn on New Year’s Day
By DPA,
Hanover (Germany) : The world's population on New Year's Day is set to reach 6.75 billion, a German group that encourages birth control said Tuesday.
The World Population Foundation of Germany said the planet's human population rose by 82 million this year and according to its estimates, the world population on Jan 1 would reach 6,751,643,600.
The Hanover-based group said almost all the growth in numbers was in developing nations, where women faced multiple pregnancies whether they wanted them or not because contraception was not available.
China reports 900,000 TB cases in 2011
By IANS,
Beijing : Around 900,000 cases of tuberculosis were discovered and treated in China in 2011, the health ministry said.
The cases included 423,000 infectious cases,
Putin visions new development plans for Russia
By Xinhua
Moscow : Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined a series of new development strategies for the country at a State Council session here on Friday.
The president, who will step down after eight years in office following the March 2 presidential elections, said that Russia has so far failed to get rid of an 'inert' dependence on natural resources, the RIA news agency reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said here Friday that the world is facing a new arms race, RIA news agency reported.
Nepal surges 20 places in world press freedom index
By NNN-Nepal News
Kathmandu : Nepal has surged more than 20 places to be placed at 137th position in the ranking of the world press freedom index owing to revival of basic freedoms after the end of war, according to a report published by Paris based Reporters Sans Frontiers Tuesday.
“The end of war and return to democratic rule resulted in a revival of basic freedoms and created new space for the media, stated the RSF in its annual report, adding, “But ethnic violence in the south of the country has exposed journalists to new dangers,” the RSF added.
Hoary Cambridge strains under migration from east Europe
By Prasun Sonwalkar, IANS
Cambridgeshire (England) : Cambridge, the ancient seat of learning, and its neighbouring areas are reeling under large-scale migration of east Europeans whose conduct, including carrying weapons like knives, and cases of drunken driving, have forced the local police to issue specific guidelines on unacceptable behaviour.
So large has been the scale of migration to Cambridgeshire that the local police service is unable to cope with offences and has asked the Gordon Brown government to allocate more funds to the county.
Prevent extremist tendencies from taking root – Abdullah
By IRNA
Kuala Lumpur : Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tuesday reminded Malaysians not to allow extremist tendencies to take root and undermine interracial harmony in the country.
The prime minister said the moderates should play a role in ensuring that members of the public were not swayed by extremist propaganda which played on people's emotions by raising sensitive religious and racial issues, Bernama reported.
"I'm really concerned when issues involving religion are brought up from time to time and the attendant problems that all of us would need to address.
Romanian probe names two priests as spies
By DPA
Bucharest : Two archbishops in Romania's Orthodox Church have been exposed as spies for the former communist intelligence service Securitate, the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives (CNSAS) said Tuesday.
The archbishops were named as Pimen von Suceava in northeast Romania and Andrei Andreicut in Alba Iulia.
Pimen co-operated with both Securitate and the Romanian foreign news service (DIE) under different pseudonyms, CNSAS said. In Andreicut's case, the authorities rejected his appeal of an earlier verdict on his co-operation with Securitate.
Chemicals that fix one ecological problem worsen another
By IANS,
Washington : Chemicals that helped fix a global ecological crisis in the 1990s - the hole in Earth's protective ozone layer, for instance - may be raising another problem such as acid rain, says scientists.
Jeffrey Gaffney, chemist at the University of Arkansas, along with colleagues Carrie J. Christiansen, Shakeel S. Dalal, Alexander M. Mebel and Joseph S. Francisco point out that hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) emerged as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) replacements because they do not damage the ozone layer.
Australian hearing care centre comes to India
By IANS,
New Delhi: An Australian audiology company, which has more than 180 clinics in Australia and New Zealand, has ventured into Asia for the first time with India as its destination. Indians make up 30 percent of its workforce, its CEO said Thursday.
20 killed in blast on bus in Sri Lanka
By Xinhua
Colombo : At least 20 civilians were killed and over 50 injured in a powerful bomb explosion on a private bus in central Sri Lanka early Saturday, a military spokesman said.
The spokesman blamed the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the blast.
Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkra said the bus was plying from Kandy to Anuradhapura when it was caught in the explosion at Dambulla, about 150 km northeast of Colombo, around 7 a.m. (0130 GMT).
EU satisfied with US-Russia deal on Syria
By IANS,
Brussels: The European Union (EU) has expressed satisfaction with the US and Russia's joint call for an international conference on Syria to end the escalating crisis in that country.
Largest turtle breeding colony found in Atlantic
Washington: Scientists have found that the Central African country of Gabon is providing an invaluable nesting ground for a vulnerable species of sea turtle...
Hong Kong frees 28 people who travelled with flu patient
By DPA,
Hong Kong : A group of 28 people, most of whom travelled on the same flight as a Mexican tourist who became Hong Kong's only confirmed swine flu case, were released from quarantine Thursday, after health officials declared them infection-free.
The group, which also included two taxi drivers who drove the Mexican around the city, were given health checks before being allowed to leave a remote holiday village where they have been kept since last Friday.
Thomas Tsang of the Centre for Health Protection, said all of those released had been given thorough medical examinations.
Canadian province presents world’s first green budget
By IANS
Vancouver : British Columbia Tuesday became the first province in North America to impose a carbon tax on people to check emission of greenhouse gases.
Imposed under its so-called green budget, the carbon tax will be levied not only on vehicle fuels such as petrol, natural gas and diesel but also home heating gases.
Many activists say it is the world's first green budget. Emissions of greenhouse gases - mainly carbon dioxide - is warming the earth's atmosphere and leading to climate change, with disastrous consequences.
Police raid home of Michael Jackson’s doctor
By DPA,
Los Angeles: Police raided the home of Michael Jackson's personal doctor Tuesday, tightening their focus on the physician who reportedly gave the late superstar sedatives that may have killed him.
The raid of the Las Vegas home of Conrad Murray came a day after sources in the investigation told US news media that investigators believe Murray gave Jackson a dose of the hospital anesthetic propofol hours before Jackson died of cardiac arrest.
Nepal PM promises tough action against priest attackers
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Amid mounting concern and condemnation by the Indian government, Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Saturday stepped into the Pashupatinath temple row, promising tough action against those who had attacked and stripped two Indian priests inside the 5th century shrine the day before.
Google agrees to carry anti-abortion ads by religious bodies
By IANS,
London : Religious organizations can now place anti-abortion advertisements on Google after a lawsuit by a British pro-life charity forced it to lift the ban.
Google settled out of court Wednesday with The Christian Institute, a UK-based charity, and will now allow religious groups to place factual and campaigning ads about abortion. The new policy will apply world-wide with immediate effect. The Institute lost no time in placing its first advertisement on the website.
Medvedev, Obama to meet in New York on Sept. 23
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The U.S. and Russian presidents will meet in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss progress towards a new bilateral arms control treaty, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"At a meeting that will take place in New York on September 23, [Dmitry] Medvedev and [Barack] Obama will hear a report on the progress of the talks," Lavrov said.
No woman should die giving life: UNICEF
Tehran, Jan 18, IRNA -- Every minute somewhere in the world a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth, and the women in the world’s least developed countries are 300 times more likely to die in childbirth than those in developed countries.
These facts are highlighted in UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children report on maternal and newborn health, a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) said on Sunday.
Putin’s allegations ‘ludicrous’: US
By DPA,
Washington : Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's allegation that the US provoked the conflict in Georgia is "ludicrous," the US State Department said Thursday.
"Those types of charges that the United States was involved in instigating it, you know, just are without foundation and just ... ludicrous - plain and simple," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said.
German paper attacked for carrying Charlie Hebdo cartoons
Berlin : A German newspaper became the target of an arson attack early Sunday following a terrorist attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie...
Dem. Leader: Bush an Absolute Failure
By Prensa Latina,
Washington : US President George W. Bush is an absolute failure, as he lacks any credibility among the people, House leader Nancy Pelosi said on Friday.
In remarks to CNN, the Democratic leader criticized the war in Iraq and Bush's economic and energy policies.
She rejected the president's questioning of an alleged congressional delay in approving laws and said he doesn't have the least notion about the matter.
Pelosi also accused Republican legislators of blocking initiatives aimed to put an end to the war or reducing the military contingent deployed in Iraq.
ANC gets two-thirds of vote in South Africa
By IANS,
Pretoria : The African National Congress (ANC) Friday secured more than two-thirds of the vote as vote-counting neared completion in South Africa's general elections, BuaNews reported.
The ANC currently has 67.2 percent vote which qualifies it for a two thirds majority rule.
Speaking to BuaNews, ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte said: "We are pleased with the way things are going. As you know we have held a two thirds majority for a number of years but for this one we thank South Africans who went out in their millions to vote for the ANC."
Cuba Youth for anti-Blockade World Unity
By Prensa Latina,
Havana : Cuba’s Youth Communist League (UJC) called youth and students organizations from all over the world to join the current international drive for the lifting of the US blockade of the Caribbean island state.
In a statement released on Sunday, the UJC National Bureau warned that Washington is insisting on maintaining its economic, trade and financial sanctions against Cuba, in spite of the devastation caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
Fuel price hike affect Indonesian project development
By Xinhua,
Jakarta : Recent fuel price hikes would affect Indonesian construction projects financed with external loans, an official of Indonesian National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) said on Sunday.
"In general, construction projects which are multi-years in nature would be affected. Usually contractors have taken such a possibility into account as a price escalation when they are to take part in a tender for such project," Syarial Loetan of Bappenas was quoted by national Antara News Agency as saying here.
Pushy techies try to cash in on Nihita-Sobhraj romance
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Though their romance landed criminal mastermind Charles Sobhraj, 64, and his 20-year-old fiancée Nihita Biswa in a raging controversy, it has proved to be a golden goose for a bunch of enterprising techies.
Terrestrial Holdings, a Florida-based company that specialises in providing domains, has put up the first website on Nihita.
www.nihitabiswas.com is a one-page site carrying a photograph of Nihita, wearing a brown dress with spaghetti straps shot in a cafe in Kathmandu.
Crew error caused Ukrainian plane crash
By IANS,
Kiev : Investigators have blamed crew error for the February plane crash in Ukraine in which five people died and nine injured.
‘Old feuds hindering energy trade in South Asia’
By IANS
Kathmandu : Long-standing political disputes in South Asia have proved a major barrier to the growth of an energy market, according to a World Bank study.
The demand for energy in the region is expected to grow annually in the range of 6.6 percent to 11.5 percent during the next 15 to 20 years, the study noted.
According to the study entitled "Potential and Prospects for Regional Energy Trade in the South Asia Region", India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have energy demand growth far exceeding domestic supply.
Plane makes emergency landing after engine failure
By IANS,
San Francisco : A Qantas flight bound for Sydney, Australia was forced to make an emergency landing at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) early Tuesday after a malfunction in one of its engines.
Qantas Airways Flight No. 74, a Boeing 747, departed SFO at around 11:10 p.m. Monday with 212 passengers and 19 crew members on board. It had been in the air for about 45 minutes when the engine failure occurred, Xinhua said, citing local media reports.
The plane then landed safely and without any injuries at about 12:45 a.m., it was reported.
Extradition of British terror suspects to US halted
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London:The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Thursday stopped the extradition of four British terror suspects, including radical cleric Abu Hamza, to the US.
The court in Strausbourg, France, gave a similar decision in the case of other suspects Babar Ahmed, a British Muslim who is the country's longest serving prisoner without charge since his arrest after an American extradition warrant in 2004, Haroon Aswat and Syed Ahsan.
German FM to head to France and China
By IRNA,
Berlin : German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will visit Thursday the French capital Paris where he is scheduled to attend the Afghan Compact Conference and will afterwards head to China for political talks, foreign ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger told journalists here Wednesday.
The meeting in Paris is aimed at boosting international efforts to help stabilizing the political and security situation in Afghanistan, according to the German official.
Nepal opposition’s youth wing to take on Maoists over Pashupatinath
By IANS,
Kathmandu : The youth wing of Nepal's main opposition party Monday joined the fray over the ouster of Indian priests at the revered Pashupatinath temple, saying they were ready to cross swords with the Maoists.
Mahendra Yadav, chief of Nepal Tarun Dal, the youth wing of former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala's Nepali Congress party, Monday issued a statement saying his organisation was ready to wage a struggle for faith.
Greenhouse report makes Australia sweat
By DPA
Sydney : The Australian government's top climate change adviser said the "awful arithmetic" of rising greenhouse gas emissions meant the 21 million people living on the world's driest continent would be among the biggest losers from global warming.
Farmers would want money to leave the land, the tourism industry would lose the Great Barrier Reef and other key assets, there would be expensive desalination plants in every major city and the containers that once shipped food out would be bringing it in, predicted Professor Ross Garnaut.
Obama to campaign in states favoring U.S. Republicans
By Xinhua,
Washington : U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would campaign in states taken by Republicans in the 2004 presidential elections with an aim at influencing local elections, said a political website report on Wednesday.
Citing Obama's deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand, the Politico report said that apart from the 15 states the Illinois Senator thought he could win in the November general elections, he would also devote some resources in campaigning largely in the 14 states that George W. Bush won during his re-election.
Man shot during US city protest
Washington: A young man was shot after he opened fire at the police in the US state of Missouri during protests marking the first...
Nepal’s growing pornography trade preys on women
By IANS,
Kathmandu : Nepali women are increasingly being forced to work in the Himalayan republic's growing domestic pornographic industry, a report has warned.
The US government's 10th Annual Trafficking in Persons report, released in Washington by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday, said non-government organisations in Nepal continued to report an increase in both transnational and domestic trafficking, although a lack of reliable statistics made the problem difficult to quantify.
Russian opposition activist put under house arrest
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: A Moscow court has ruled to release opposition activist Konstantin Lebedev and place him under house arrest instead.
Myanmar quietly releases 96 monks
By DPA
Yangon : Myanmar's military regime has released from detention 96 monks who participated in September's marches, permitting half of them to return to the Ngwekyaryan monastery in Yangon, sources said Monday.
Authorities released the 96 monks, including Abbot Sayadaw U. Yevada, last Friday from the Kaba Aye detention centre, where they had been kept since the government crackdown on monk-led protests Sep 26-27.
Thai caretaker PM concerned over frequent bomb blasts
Bangkok: Thai caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra Tuesday expressed concern over recent bomb explosions in the southernmost province of Yala.
A series of bomb blasts...
Turkish attacks on Kurds would complicate efforts to stabilize the region – Ban
By NNN-KUNA
United Nations : For the second time in a week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday advised Turkey not to carry out a military attack on Kurds in Northern Iraq, stressing that any escalation of tension would further complicate the international community's efforts, including those by the UN, to bring stability to this "volatile" region.
Russia to recognise Ukrainian parliamentary poll results
Moscow : Russia is prepared to recognise the outcome of the Ukrainian parliamentary elections, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday on the LifeNews television...
Extremists to be barred from UK
By KUNA,
London : Tougher measures to prevent extremists entering the UK are to be announced by Britain's Home Secretary Mrs Jacqui Smith, Home Office officials said Tuesday.
They are designed to stop so-called "preachers of hate" stirring up tension, and in some cases the names of extremists will be made public.
There have been 230 barred since 2005 but their identities have only been revealed when they publicly complained about being excluded.
Smith is to reveal the full details of the plans in the next few days.
Washington’s double whammy to Beijing
By Mayank Chhaya
Washington, (IANS) Either by default or by design Washington is delivering a double whammy to Beijing this week. On Tuesday, President George W. Bush held a private meeting with the Dalai Lama, while on Wednesday the Tibetan leader will be conferred the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Six killed in Sharjah air crash
By DPA,
Dubai: Six people were killed Wednesday when a Sudanese cargo plane crashed while taking off from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the head of the emirate's aviation authority said.
Sheikh Khalid al-Qasimi, director of the Department of Civil Aviation in Sharjah, told DPA that the Boeing 707, registered in Sudan, had crashed in the desert shortly after taking off from the Sharjah airport.
Al-Qasimi said the plane had arrived in Sharjah from Khartoum earlier Wednesday morning and was returning to Sudan when it crashed.
China’s Sinovac gets world’s first swine flu vaccine production license
By Xinhua,
Beijing : China Thursday approved a swine flu vaccine produced by the domestic pharmaceutical company Sinovac, making it the first to get a production license in the global race.
The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) issued the license for Sinovac's vaccine called Panflu.1 Thursday, after it passed SFDA's experts evaluation Aug 31.
Panflu.1 could safely be given to people aged from three to 60 years old in a single shot (15 microgram dose), according to the evaluation report.
Paris Hilton devastated by Casey Johnson’s death
By IANS,
London: Paris Hilton is devastated by her friend and heiress Casey Johnson's death and says she feels she has lost a sister.
"I feel so sad right now, my heart is in pain. Just lost a long-time friend. My heart goes out to her family," Paris posted on her Twitter page.
"In bed crying, looking at baby pictures of Casey, Nicky and I. I feel so upset. I feel like I've lost a sister. My heart is broken. Miss her. God has another angel by his side. Casey, we all love and miss you and know that you are in a better place," she added.
23 candidates to contest Sri Lanka presidential poll
By IANS,
Colombo : Twenty-three candidates, representing 18 political parties and five independent groups, will contest the Sri Lankan presidential election Jan 26, an official said Wednesday.
Incumbent President Mahida Rajapakse of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance and former army commander Sarath Fonseke, common candidate of Sri Lankan opposition parties, are the main contestants, Xinhua reported.
Sri Lankan elections commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake said his department will accept the nominations for the elections Thursday.
Labour has to learn from Obama — MP
By KUNA,
London : Labour must learn from Barack Obama's campaign to become US president if the party is to "rediscover, renew and refresh" itself, a British minister has said.
David Lammy MP, a friend of Obama, said next week's election could see "something very special".
He praised the campaign for its high level of "grassroots" support.
Addressing a meeting in Westminster, central London, late on Tuesday, Lammy warned that if Labour did not reconnect with voters in a similar way, the right-wing British National Party (BNP) could gain seats at next year's European elections.
Communist Party of Nepal claims to head new gov’t
By Xinhua,
Kathmandu : The largest party established in the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) Tuesday issued an official claim that the party must head the new Nepali government.
A meeting of CPN-M Central Secretariat held in Kathmandu decided to lead the to-be-formed government claiming the polls outcome positive.
15 Indians were on board crashed Kenyan airliner
By IANS
Nairobi : There were 15 Indians among the 106 on board a Kenya Airways airliner that is reported to have crashed in the Cameroon Saturday.Media reports said 14 people have been killed.
Russian killed in Nepal chopper crash
By IANS,
Kathmandu : A Russian was killed and five people injured when a helicopter crashed in a mountainous district in northern Nepal Sunday.
The Russian flight engineer was identified as D. Satalo, police said.
An MI-8 helicopter run by a Nepali domestic airline, Manang Air, was heading towards Humla district from Surkhet in midwestern Nepal when it crashed 40 minutes after takeoff.
The chopper, flying goods, hit a tree at the Rudikot helipad in Humla, the first reports by police said.
It was carrying two passengers and four crew members.
Bush boasts accomplishments in forging U.S.-Asian ties
By Xinhua,
Bangkok : U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday applauded his government's "accomplishments" in bolstering American engagement with Asia under his running-out eight-year tenure.
Bush made the remarks in a speech Thursday morning at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok during his second stop of his Asian tour.
"Over the past six decades, Asia has gone from an area mired in poverty and recovering from world war to a thriving and dynamic region," Bush said, "America has played a role in this transformation."
Sikh woman at 60 becomes Canada’s oldest mother
By IANS,
Toronto : A 60-year-old Sikh woman has become the oldest mother in Canada by giving birth to twin boys in Calgary city this week.
Ranjit Hayer and her husband Jagir Hayer, who have been trying to have a baby for the past 40 years, finally became proud parents of the twins delivered Tuesday in a city hospital.
After being rejected by Canadian doctors for in-vitro fertilization because of her old age, the woman had reportedly traveled to her native India get fertilized with a donated egg.
Ethnic minority London police officer suspended
By IANS,
London : An ethnic minority officer of the London Metropolitan Police (Met), who supported colleagues accusing the police chief of racism, has been suspended following a probe into charges that he had 'coached' a hit-and-run suspect to escape criminal prosecution.
Commander Ali Dizaei is alleged to have acted as a consultant to point out weaknesses in a 2005 case brought by the Met against a woman accused of leaving the scene of a fatal hit-and-run. He says the complaint is malicious.
Obama leads McCain in polls, but pundits warn of “Bradley Effect”
By Heather Yamour, KUNA,
Washington : With the US general election days away, polls show Barack Obama leading Republican contender John McCain between five to nine points but some political pundits warn the "Bradley Effect" could turn the tide against Obama on Election Day. The "Bradley Effect" is named after former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, an African-American candidate for governor in California who lost the race in 1982 to a white Republican opponent despite polls predicting he would win.
Merkel to join Islamic rally for ‘tolerance’
Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend a rally called by Islamic groups, for an "open and tolerant Germany" Tuesday, following last week's terrorist...
US president, UNHRC chief condemns Paris attack
Washington/Geneva: US President Barack Obama Wednesday denounced the deadly attack on the offices of a Paris-based magazine, and pledged assistance, if need be, to...
Police say 8 kg of heroin seized in Siberia, supply route cut off
By RIA Novosti,
Novosibirsk : Police in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk seized eight kilograms of heroin from three people believed to be part of a large supply route, the local drug control service said on Tuesday.
Police detained two Tajik nationals and a resident of Irkutsk, a city in East Siberia, who are believed to be members of an international crime group smuggling heroin from Tajikistan to Novosibirsk for distribution elsewhere in Siberia.
32 terror groups busted in China
Beijing : A total of 32 terror modules were busted, over 380 suspects apprehended and 315 people sentenced by the courts during an anti-terror...
UK police officers face charges of assaulting Muslim
By IRNA,
London : Britain’s Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer announced Thursday that four police officers will face assault charges over the wrongful arrest of computer expert Babar Ahmad nearly seven years ago.
Ahmad, who is currently in jail contesting a US extradition request to face alleged terrorism charges, welcomed the state's decision to prosecute PC Mark Jones, PC James-Bowen, PC Cowley and PC Donoghue for occasioning actual bodily harm.
Brown declines comment on alleged Mumbai role of Britons
By DPA,
London : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Friday refused to be drawn on reports that British citizens of Pakistani origin could have been involved in the terrorism attacks in Mumbai.
Brown said he would talk to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the claim made by NDTV news channel.
Singh has said that the terrorists who attacked the city were believed to have been based outside India.
"I would not want to be drawn into early conclusions about this," Brown said on Sky News.
Chilean wins $1.76 mn from forgotten lottery ticket
By IANS/EFE,
Santiago : A Chilean taxi driver became a millionaire after finding that a lottery ticket he had forgotten after keeping in the glove compartment of his vehicle for several weeks had won a prize worth 934 million pesos ($1.76 million).
The daily La Tercera reported Tuesday that the winner was Daniel Maldonado, a taxi driver who Dec 31 bought a ticket for the lottery and another for Kino, a game of chance whose prize continues to increase if no winners are forthcoming in succeeding draws.
Brazilian arrested for raping, killing six teens
By IANS/EFE,
Brasilia : A paedophile has confessed to raping, murdering and then burying six teenagers in a city near the Brazilian capital.
The confession of Admar de Jesus, a 40-year-old labourer arrested Saturday in the city of Luziania, led the police to a rural spot where he had buried the six bodies.
The police commissioner in charge of the case, Wesley Almeida, said that the remains found Sunday will be subjected to forensic examinations to verify whether they really are those of the six missing children from Luziania, a town located 66 km from the Brazilian capital.
Peru shipwreck toll rises to 21
By IANS/EFE,
Lima : Peruvian authorities have recovered 21 bodies from a ferry that sank in the Amazon River near the border with Colombia, while the number of confirmed survivors stands at 161, an official said.
The Camila, said to have been carrying more than 200 people, sank at around 2.40 a.m. Wednesday near the Indian village of Santa Rosa, located more than 50 km from Iquitos, the capital of Loreto, in the Peruvian Amazon.
Canada’s top bank acquires Royal Bank of Scotland’s operations
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : With Kolkata-born Sabi Marwah as its vice chairman and chief operating officer, Canada's Scotiabank Monday acquired Royal Bank of Scotland's banking operations in Colombia to further expand its international presence.
The bank already has a huge presence in 27 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean where it employs 31,867 people and operates 1,411 branches and other offices. One of North America's top banks and Canada's most international bank, Scotiabank currently operates in more than 50 countries.
Protesters gather in Beijing, Shanghai
By IANS,
Beijing : Hundreds of people gathered Sunday in China's major cities of Beijing and Shanghai but were dispersed by police in both places.
Record 130 MPs to stand down at UK elections
London, Feb 1, IRNA – The forthcoming general election in Britain is set to see the biggest-ever exodus of MPs from the House of Commons, with a record of 130 already declaring their intentions to stand down.
In the past week, three senior Labour MPs have announced their retirement, bringing the total so to 83 from Britain’s ruling party and more are expected to follow before the election, which is likely to be held in May, with the government forecast to be facing defeat.
Mass migration a post-Cold War threat: ex-British minister
By IANS,
London : A former British cabinet minister says mass migration is among the biggest post-Cold War “threats” facing Britain - along with terrorism and crime.
"Forty years ago, the Cold War meant that the borders were inviolate, extremist religious groups and ethnic tensions were suppressed, there was no internet and travel was difficult,” former Labour home minister John Reid said.
Yahoo to take time evaluating Microsoft offer
By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : Yahoo Inc says it's "going to take time" to thoroughly evaluate Microsoft Corp's unsolicited $45 billion offer keeping in mind its strategic options, including keeping the company independent.
It was undertaking a deliberate review of Microsoft's offer to pay Yahoo shareholders either $31 in cash, or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock, Yahoo said in a media release posted on the company Web site.
Mexico forecasts 4 percent drop in oil output in 2010
By EFE,
Mexico City : Mexican authorities said they expect average daily crude output to fall in 2010 to 2.5 million barrels per day, which would represent a four percent drop compared with the first half of this year and a decline of 14 percent since 2008.
Mexican Energy Secretary Georgina Kessel and the head of state oil company Petrolos Mexicanos, or Pemex, Jesus Reyes Heroles, gave the same output estimate for 2010 in separate statements.
Both officials said the decline was due primarily to the steady depletion of the offshore Cantarell field, once Mexico's largest.
Obama urges car industry bail-out as Republicans balk
By DPA,
Washington : US president-elect Barack Obama Thursday called on Congress to prevent a collapse of the country's automotive industry, but Senate Republicans were almost certain to block a legislative deal.
The House of Representatives approved a $14-billion emergency loan for the car industry Wednesday night, a move that would keep General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy at least for the coming few months.
Obama, speaking at a Chicago press conference, said the automotive bail-out was vital for the US economy and urged the Senate to follow suit.
UK allays India’s AfPak concerns, confident of special ties
By IANS,
New Delhi/Bangalore: Britain is hopeful that the two-day visit of British Prime Minister David Cameron beginning Tuesday night will infuse "a new lease of life" into bilateral ties and is confident that its new immigration policy and perceived differences over dealing with Afghanistan-Pakistan issues will not come in the way, British high commissioner Sir Richard Stagg has said.
Google announces own operating system to take on Microsoft
By DPA,
New York : Internet giant Google announced Wednesday the arrival of its own computer operating system, initially designed for use with Netbook computers.
Google Chrome OS, based on the company's nine-month old browser software, is to be available to consumers from the second half of 2010, a statement on Google's blog said.
Google says that Chrome OS is their "attempt to re-think what operating systems should be", the product is seen as upping the pressure on dominant operating system provider, Microsoft, and its proprietary system, Windows.
Five sacked over China coal mine blast
By IANS,
Beijing : Five officials were sacked after a coal mine gas explosion killed 11 people and injured two in northwest China's Shaanxi province, authorities said Saturday.
US still mum on doing business with Maoists in Nepal
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : With Maoists poised to lead the new government in Nepal, the US - which once worked to prevent a "Maoist takeover" - welcomed "the historic election", without indicating if it was ready to do business with the former guerrillas still on its terrorist watch list.
In a cautious first reaction to the election, Washington, which has for long considered preventing a Maoist takeover a key to achieving US regional goals, congratulated "the people of Nepal on their historic Constituent Assembly election" with no reference to the outcome.
Obama, McCain Pledge ‘New Era of Reform’
By SPA,
Washington : President-elect Barack Obama and his defeated Republican rival John McCain on Monday pledged a “new era of reform” to solve the U.S. economic crisis, transform energy policy, and safeguard national security.
Two weeks after the November 4 election, the two candidates said in a joint statement after talks in Chicago, Illinois that Americans of all political parties wanted their leaders to come together and “change the bad habits of Washington.”
Footpaths to generate electricity from pedestrians’ footsteps
By IANS,
London : A new technology under development by a British company would allow harnessing of the power of footsteps of pedestrians to generate electricity for lighting up public places.
The technology, developed by London-based The Facility, uses a flooring system that incorporates a matrix of hydraulic compression pads. The pressure of the footsteps on these pads pushes fluid through a micro-turbine and generates electricity.
Haiti quake toll tops 200,000
By DPA,
Port-au-Prince : The number of people killed in last month's earthquake in Haiti has topped 200,000, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said as protests erupted over the slow distribution of aid to survivors.
The government had previously said the magnitude-7, Jan 12 quake had killed up to 200,000 people. Bellerive said Wednesday that number had been surpassed and the new toll did not include bodies that remained trapped in the rubble or those removed by families for burial.
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