Putin To Visit Beijing For Talks With Chinese Leaders
By Bernama,
Moscow : Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will visit Beijing on August 8-9, to "hold full-scale talks with Chinese leaders", a sources in the Russian government told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
Putin's visit is timed with the opening of the Olympic Games.
"Despite unprecedented engagement of Chinese authorities in the organisation of the Olympiad, the Chinese leaders have allocated special time for meeting with the Russian prime minister.
5.6 magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand’s North Island
By Xinhua,
Wellington : An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale struck New Zealand North Island's Bay of Plenty region on Sunday afternoon, GNS Science said.
The quake struck 20 km north of Rotorua at a depth of 200 km at12:13 p.m. local time (23:13 GMT Saturday), the New Zealand's Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) said.
It was likely to have been felt along the east coast of the North Island.
Nigeria mourns plane crash victims
By IANS,
Abuja : Nigeria Monday began a three-day national mourning for the 193 people who died in one of the country's worst plane crashes that occurred Sunday.
Nigerian president declares war against terrorists
Lagos : Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan Thursday directed the country's security forces to launch a full-scale military operation to put an end to the...
Gandhi’s words start off Turkey conference of LDCs
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Istanbul : A conference of 50 of the world's least developed countries (LDCs) kicked off in Istanbul Monday with the words of Mahatma Gandhi.
Plane makes emergency landing at US airport
By DPA,
New York : A United Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport, but all 53 people on board were safe.
The plane lurched to one side as the Airbus 319 landed with only two landing wheels in place, and the airport was closed briefly. United Airlines flight 634, which had departed from Chicago and was due to land at the airport in New Jersey, suffered a malfunction in its right landing gear, media reports said.
Chinese archaeologists find fossil that could be 580 mln years old
BEIJING, Feb 14 (APP) :Chinese archaeologists have found a fossilized body of an octoradiate spiral organism dating back 580 million years in the southwestern part of the country, the Guangming Daily reported.
The creature in question would have been a multicellular animal.
The fossil was found in Wenghui village, Jiangkou County, in southwest Guizhou Province.
Merkel’s coalition given thumbs down in state poll
By DPA,
Dusseldorf/Berlin : German Chancellor Angela Merkel was facing the loss of her majority in the upper house of parliament, following the poor showing by her Christian Democrat (CDU) allies in a key state election.
In North Rhein-Westphalia, which as Germany's most populous state contains around a fifth of all the country's voters, the CDU lost some 10 percent of its support.
The CDU had governed in the state, in an arrangement mirroring the national government, with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) since 2005.
‘China’s Confucius Institutes popular across the world’
By Xinhua
Beijing : The second Confucius Institute Conference, which aims to promote China's culture and mutual understanding around the world opened here Tuesday with delegates from around the world participating.
"My experience at the conference shows that you can make friends worldwide if you speak Chinese," said Gary Sigley, director of the Confucius Institute of the University of Western Australia, here Tuesday.
Suspected US missile kills six militants in Pakistan
By DPA,
Islamabad : A suspected US missile strike Thursday in Pakistan's north-western tribal region near the Afghan border killed at least six militants, an intelligence official said.
The attack took place in the South Waziristan district, a stronghold of slain Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.
A US drone fired missiles on a militant hideout in the Kani Guram area, killing six militants and wounding at least eight more, the intelligence official said on the condition of anonymity.
Identities of those killed in the raid were not immediately known, he added.
USAID to shut down mission in Russia
By IANS,
Washington: The US State Department said Tuesday that it will shut down the USAID mission in Russia.
Jackson’s mother to get custody of his children
By IANS,
London : It has been confirmed that Michael Jackson's mother Katherine will get the custody of his three kids, while their mother Debbie will have visitation rights.
Debbie is the biological mother of Prince Michael Jr. and Paris Michael and, according to the new deal, will retain her parental rights to both kids. But she has agreed not to challenge the custody arrangement in court, reported aceshowbiz.com.
Besides, she will not be granted any extra money.
Why Google finally saw red in China
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
There's no polite way to put this. China is a rogue nation, a military dictatorship masquerading as a people's government. It's an apparent economic success in the short term, but its aspiration to become an economic superpower is not compatible with its political model.
EU report predicts 3.5 million job losses in 2009
By Xinhua,
Brussels : Some 3.5 million European Union (EU) citizens will lose their jobs this year due to the economic crisis, an EU report said.
"As business and consumer confidence fell sharply in December and dropped again in January, further deterioration in the labour market situation is foreseen for the months ahead," the European Commission said Tuesday in its first monthly survey of the EU job market.
Danish police use teargas, arrest 436 in Copenhagen youth protest
Copenhagen, October 06, SPA -- Danish police used teargas to break up a major demonstration in Copenhagen Saturday in which 436 young people were detained and a number of people injured, radio reports said according to DPA.
The protesters were demanding a new autonomous youth centre be made available in the capital's north-west following the demolition of a landmark "alternative scene" youth centre six months ago.
Seven people killed in fire in northwest Russia
By RIA Novosti
St. Petersburg : Seven people died and four others were injured in a fire at a factory in northwestern Russia, the regional emergencies center said on Sunday.
The blaze at the Elektropult electrical factory in St. Petersburg started early on Sunday after a wooden structure close to the factory's premises caught fire. Firefighters extinguished the fire within an hour, the emergencies center said.
Work in under way to establish the cause of the fire.
Global Indians gather in Malaysia for convention
By NNN-Bernama
Kuala Lumpur : More than 1,000 people of Indian origin from all over the world gathered at the Putra World Trade Centre Saturday for the start of the three-day Ninth Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) International Convention.
MIC president S. Samy Vellu who launched the meet, spoke on the achievements of Indians in 110 countries, including Malaysia.
China, Britain to track abducted Nigerian girls
Abuja: China and Britain have offered to deploy their advanced tracking technologies to support Nigeria's security agencies engaged in the search and rescue operation...
US markets continue to revive
By DPA,
New York : US stocks extended their rally to a fifth day with the Standard & Poors 500 Index capping its biggest weekly advance in 34 years.
As US shoppers swarmed stores on Black Friday - traditionally the nation's biggest annual shopping day as consumers rush out to make use of bargains - experts were bracing for a disappointing outcome amidst the financial crisis.
Target Corporation shares slumped 3.9 percent as retailers extended deep discounts, Bloomberg financial news service reported.
‘Little Obama’ to chronicle US president’s childhood
By IANS,
London : "Little Obama", a film tracking Barack Obama's formative years in Indonesia, is being made focussing on the "childhood story" of the American president.
"It's about his friendships, his hobbies, just a childhood story," said screenwriter and co-director Damien Dematra. "It's not about politics, it's just the story of a boy."
"Little Obama" will chronicle the leader's childhood in Jakarta, where he lived with his mother and stepfather.
Hasan Faruq Ali, 12, has been roped in to play the young Obama, reports contactmusic.com.
Japan’s foreign minister to resign over illegal donation: Report
By DPA,
Tokyo : Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, seen as a possible successor to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, is to step down after receiving an illegal donation, media reports said Sunday.
Physicians’ group says exams confirm Abu Ghraib, other torture
By DPA,
Washington : A US human rights group has said that medical examinations of prisoners held at prisons in Iraq and Cuba by the US military confirmed that they were tortured.
The Boston-based group, Physicians for Human Rights, conducted an evaluation of 11 detainees who were freed without being charged after being held at the prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Iraq and Afghanistan.
Military uniforms to protect from mosquito bites
By IANS,
Washington : Uniforms issued to US military personnel are now being treated to repel mosquitoes, thanks to a new method developed by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
Since 1991, treatment of military uniforms with the insecticide permethrin has been available to help protect troops from mosquitoes that transmit malaria and dengue.
This method is a valuable addition to the protection provided by insect repellents, but it is a challenge to be sure that the many kinds of fabrics and uniforms are adequately treated.
11 killed, 11 injured in Colombia shootings
By DPA,
Bogota : Eleven people died and another 11 were injured in two separate shootings in Colombia, police said Monday.
Two dead in Spain train crash
By IANS,
Madrid : At least two people were killed and a boy and a woman were injured Tuesday due to a train crash in Madrid, local media reported.
South Africa to promote n-security at global summit
Cape Town : South Africa will promote nuclear security at the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), the country's Department of International Relations and Cooperation...
Chinese military plane crashes during drill
By IANS,
Beijing : A military plane Thursday crashed into the sea off China's eastern Shandong province, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy said.
2008 Looks Grim for Bush, say Analysts
Washington, Jan 1 (Prensa Latina) If the last days of 2007 are any indication, U.S. President George W. Bush's last year in office is shaping up as grim and lonely, says a commentary published here by Interpress Service.
Grim, because Bush's signature "war on terror" is nowhere near the kind of "victory" on which he had placed so much hope. Hundreds of billions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury have been spent, but the Middle East and the wider Islamic world is as ripped by war as ever.
The year that just concluded has been the deadliest for the US in its war efforts.
Nation sleeps out in open, aftershocks add to misery
By Joseph Nathan,
Kathmandu : Almost everyone spent the night outside as tremors kept hitting Nepal's capital Kathmandu and most of the Himalayan nation throughout...
NATO troops gain control of Taliban hotbeds in Afghanistan
By IANS,
Kabul: The NATO-led forces Sunday claimed to have gained control over Marjah and other major strongholds of the Taliban militants in Afghanistan as the new offensive involving over 15,000 soldiers continued for the second day.
The forces, including the US, Afghan and British troops, killed 27 militants and seized crucial positions across Marjah since they began house-to-house search in the southern Helmand province as part of the operation 'Mushtarak' (together) launched Saturday.
Estonia mourns deaths at orphanage fire
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Tallinn : The government of Estonia has announced Monday as the day of mourning for victims of an orphanage fire that killed 10 children.
Syria: US Hindering Lebanese Elections
By Prensa Latina
Damascus : The Syrian government has accused the United States of hampering elections in Lebanon and contributing to fuel the current political crisis in that country.
Minister of Information Mohsen Bilal blamed the White House for thwarting Syrian and French attempts to make election of a Lebanese president possible.
On Sunday Bilal denounced that Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams and US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch, both known for their support to Israel, were in Lebanon last week.
Russia reports first swine flu deaths
By RIA Novosti,
Chita (Russia) : Two women diagnosed with swine flu have died in eastern Siberia's Chita area, the regional governor's press service said Tuesday.
"Two women are believed to have died of the influenza A/H1N1 virus," the spokesman said, adding that official confirmation of the causes of death would only be available in 21 days.
One of the victims, a 29-year-old woman, was pregnant. Doctors were unable to save the baby.
Zambia asks Vedanta not to increase copper mine stake
By Xinhua
Lusaka : The Zambian government has asked London Stock Market-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, owned by Indian-born entrepreneur Anil Agarwal, not to purchase the 28 percent shares held by Zambia Copper Investment (ZCI), Zambia Daily Mail reported Wednesday.
Zambian Minister of Mines and Mineral Development Kalombo Mwansa and his deputy Maxwell Mwale confirmed that the government would be comfortable if Vedanta maintained its current 51 percent stake.
11 die, two missing in China coalmine blast
By IANS,
Beijing : Eleven people were killed, six injured and two others were missing Thursday following a blast in a coalmine in northeast China, Xinhua reported.
Small plane with 4 britons lost in Brazil
By ANTARA News/Reuters,
Brasilia : A small plane carrying six people, including four British businessmen, has disappeared along Brazil`s northeastern coast, a Brazilian airline said on Saturday.
The Cessna 310 owned by AeroStar airline went missing on its flight from Salvador to the coastal town of Ilheus on Friday afternoon, a spokesman for the airline told Reuters. Its last contact with the Ilheus control tower was at 5:43 p.m. local time, nine minutes before its scheduled landing, he said.
New Hopkins initiative to tackle biggest killer of children
By IANS,
Washington : Johns Hopkins researchers are developing a newer approach to tackling pneumonia, which remains the biggest killer of children worldwide.
The core initiative at Johns Hopkins, called the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH), aims to build a new, rigorous evidence base by studying the causes of paediatric pneumonia in five to 10 countries across the developing world using state-of-the-art diagnostics.
Nepal Helicopter Crash Kills 18
By Prensa Latina,
Katmandu : A twin-engined helicopter of Yeti Airlines, a private Nepal company, crashed Wednesday killing 18, among them 16 foreigners, confirmed the authorities here.
The craft was covering the flight from Katmandu to Lukla when shortly before landing there was a sudden worsening of weather conditions and it hit the earth and caught fire.
The accident occurred at 07:30 local hour killing 14 Germans, 2 Australians, the Nepalese copilot and stewardess, while the pilot managed to survive the accident, reported the NepalNews.com service.
26 Filipino seamen freed by Somali pirates
By Xinhua,
Manila : Somali pirates have released 26 Filipino seamen seized almost two months ago off Somalia, while 108 Filipino sailors still remain in captivity, the Philippine government said Friday.
The sailors were taken hostage in the Gulf of Aden Sep 17, when heavily-armed Somali pirates hijacked their Greek cargo ship MV Centauri.
They were released Thursday night, "safe and in good condition, " said Esteban Conejos, Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.
He did not say if ransom was paid to secure the seafarers' freedom.
US Telugus contribute $100,000 for cyclone Hudhud relief
Washington: Telugu Association of North America (TANA), the largest Telugu organization outside India, has announced that it will be making an initial contribution of...
Upper house of Russia”s parliament recognizes Ossetia, Abkhazia independence
By KUNA,
Moscow : The Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament (the Duma), backed here on Monday a bill recognizing independence of the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The Russian MPs voted with a majority in favor of recognizing the independence of the two republics.
The parliaments of Abkhazia and South Ossetia sent Appeals, last week, to Russia's president and parliament to recognize their independence.
The two republics declared unilateral separation from Georgia in the early 90s.
Jade Goody begged doctors to kill her
By IANS,
London : British reality TV show star Jade Goody begged doctors to kill her after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, it has emerged.
The star, who married fiance Jack Tweed during a fairytale wedding Sunday, told doctors to give her a fatal injection or pill that would end her suffering, reports thesun.co.uk
She and Tweed sobbed together as Goody was told nothing could be done to stop the cancer that has now ravaged her body.
Wall Street Journal not amused by spoof
By IANS,
New York : The redoubtable Wall Street Journal does not seem to have been tickled by a new paper spoofing it, so much so that advance copies of the tabloid are being whisked away from news stands.
"Bush abolishes death, taxes - Move will benefit McCain" is the lead headline on the front page of the inaugural issue of "My Wall Street Journal", which has a striking similarity to the 120-year-old original. The accompanying story tries to make a point about the age, 71, of John McCain, the likely Republican candidate for the presidential election in the US.
Salahis to keep mum before Congressional panel
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington: Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the infamous celebrity hounding couple who gate crashed a White House dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, won't be talking when they appear before a Congressional panel next week.
"The gate crashers are invoking the Fifth Amendment, their attorney says, after being subpoenaed to appear at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Jan 20," the Politico focusing on politics reported.
88 killed in plane crash in Phuket
By DPA
Bangkok : A Thai budget airline One-Two-Go flight, packed with foreigners, crashed on landing and burst into flames Sunday at Phuket Airport in southern Thailand, killing at least 88 of the 130 people on board, according to reports.
Airport officials initially said at least 75 of the people who had been on flight OG 269 were confirmed dead, with 42 injured and 13 still missing.
Subsequent news reports quoting Thai officials put the number of people confirmed to have been killed at 88.
Vladimir Lisin named richest Russian with $18.8 bn
By RIA Novisti,
Moscow : Vladimir Lisin, the owner of the Russian steel giant Novolipetsk Steel, has been named Russia's richest person with an estimated wealth of $18.8 billion by Russia's Finans (Finance) business magazine.
Mikhail Prokhorov, the president of Onexim Group who topped last year's rankings, was second in the 2010 list with an estimated wealth of $17.85 billion.
Roman Abramovich, the former governor of Chukotka and the owner of Chelsea Football Club, came in third with $17 billion. His fortune will enable him to keep the club afloat for another 100 years.
Serbia rules out use of force against breakaway Kosovo
By RIA Novosti
Belgrade : Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac said on Wednesday that Belgrade would not use military force to thwart Kosovo's drive for independence.
Speaking in an interview with Dnevni Avaz, a popular daily published in Sarajevo, Sutanovac said: "I have said many times that the Kosovo problem cannot be resolved militarily."
"When we tried to resolve problems in the former Yugoslavia by deploying the army, we encountered even greater problems," the minister said.
French National Assembly approves ban on burqa
By DPA,
Paris : The lower house of the French parliament, the National Assembly, Tuesday passed a bill banning the wearing of the Islamic all-body veil, or burqa, in all public places.
If approved in the fall by the Senate and then by the Constitutional Council, the law would impose a fine of 150 euros ($190) or a lesson in citizenship on any woman caught wearing the burqa outside her home.
A man convicted of forcing a woman to wear the garment, meanwhile, would be liable to a fine of up to 30,000 euros and a one-year prison sentence.
Crocodile caused plane crash: Report
By IANS,
London : A plane crash in Democratic Republic of Congo that killed 20 people on board was caused by a crocodile hidden in a bag on the flight, a media report said here Friday.
Magnitude 4.6 quake hits China
By IANS,
Beijing : An earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale hit China's Shanxi province, but there was no report of any casualty, the China Earthquake Networks Centre said.
The quake occurred at 8.58 p.m. Saturday. Its epicentre was 38.2 degrees north latitude and 112.7 degrees east longitude, at a depth of five km, Xinhua reported.
Argentina reveals secrets of ‘dirty war’
By IANS/EFE,
Buenos Aires : Argentina has disclosed the secrets of the "dirty war" waged against the left by the country's military regime 1976-83.
The secret files of Battalion 601, described as the "brain" that coordinated killings, kidnappings and other abuses, contains the identities of both military and civilian personnel who played a role in the repression.
The declassification of the documents began with an order from Argentine President Cristina Fernandez Jan 1.
Russia may treat child adoption for cash as trafficking
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: Adoption of children involving payments will be considered by Russia as trafficking, according to a new bill debated in parliament.
High-speed train starts in China
By IANS,
Beijing: The world's first high-speed train in areas with extremely low temperature started operation in China Saturday.
Children become face of US immigration debate
By DPA
Washington : A swarm of baby strollers descended on the White House accompanied by hundreds of children, their parents and organisers hoping to put children at the forefront of a push for US immigration law reform and to protest policies that separate families.
China Quake Deaths at 20,000
By Prensa Latina,
Beijing : The death toll of the recent disastrous quake in the Chinese province of Sichuan has amounted to 20,000, according to figures revealed Thursday.
The provincial government informed that in its jurisdiction alone, over 19,500 bodies have been counted, while in nearby provinces, the figure is over 400.
The number of wounded has reached 65,000, and thousands of people are missing.
Local authorities in the cities and towns north of Chengdu, Sichuan's capital, had previously set the amount of people trapped in the ruins at 25,788.
Canada turns to Europe to avert economic crisis
By IANS,
Toronto : Canada, which banks on the US for about 85 percent of its global trade, is turning to Europe to lessen the impact of the economic crisis in its big neighbour down south.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper Friday announced that Canada and the European Union (EU) have agreed to work towards a "historic, comprehensive economic agreement".
Legendary king’s ‘coronation’ breathes life into Hampi ruins
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Hampi (Karnataka): The ruins of Hampi, the capital city of the mighty Vijayanagara empire for over 300 years in medieval India, have turned into a beehive of activity five centuries after its greatest emperor Krishnadevaraya was coronated in circa 1509.
The 500th anniversary celebration of the historic event Jan 27-29 has breathed new life into Hampi's palaces, courtyards, temples and monuments scattered over 26 square km in the Deccan heartland of peninsular India, about 350 km from Bangalore.
Ukraine to take part in NATO Response Force
By RIA Novosti,
Brussels : Ukraine will take part in the NATO Response Force as a partner country, secretary general of the western military alliance Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said.
Scheffer's statement came following a Ukraine-NATO commission meeting in Brussels Friday.
The response force consists of rapid deployment forces with land, air and sea components, capable of swiftly reacting to crisis situations.
Ukraine was one of the first NATO partner countries to offer to play a role in the NATO Response Force.
Putin warns against excluding Russia from energy decisions
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Attempts to exclude Russia from global energy decision making would be counterproductive, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday in an address to the lower house of parliament.
The European Union (EU) signed an agreement with Ukraine in late March on modernizing the country's Soviet-era pipelines, triggering an angry reaction from Russia, which exports most of its Europe-bound gas via Ukraine. Moscow said the deal failed to take its interests into account.
Blind dancers of Articulate Ability perform in Boston
From Darkness Unto Light, they lead us all ...
By Umang Kumar,
Boston: They ended their performance by dancing to a piece which took its title from a Sanskrit sloka, “Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya,” - “Lead me from Darkness unto Light,” - urging the powers Almighty to lead them towards light - and yet it seemed that it was they who were leading us in the audience to ever-increasing light and vision.
GM to sell off its Opel subsidiary
By DPA,
Berlin : Giant US carmaker General Motors Co. (GM) plans to sell off a majority stake in its European offshoot Opel to a consortium lead by the Canadian-Austrian auto parts group Magna International, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Thursday.
Merkel's announcement at a press conference in Berlin came after the company held a two-day board meeting in Detroit and follows months of uncertainty surrounding the fate of Opel, which has about half of its 50,000 European workforce in Germany.
Democrat Abhisit Vejjajiva elected Thailand’s new PM
By Xinhua
Bangkok : Thailand's parliament Monday elected Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva as the country's new prime minister ending a protracted political turmoil that saw his predecessor and close ally of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Somchai Wongsowat, resign.
Official results showed Abhisit gained 235 votes from the total 437 incumbent members of parliament in the House of Representatives, against the 198 votes for his rival -- Puea Thai Party leader Pracha Promnok, during the special parliamentary session that kicked off 9.30 a.m. (0230 GMT) Monday.
President oversees quake relief in Shaanxi
By Xinhua,
Hanzhong, Shaanxi : President Hu Jintao on Saturday morning arrived in northwest China's Shaanxi Province to oversee quake relief operations.
After nearly two hours of flight from Beijing, Hu arrived in Hanzhong City, one of the worst-hit areas in Shaanxi during the devastating earthquake on May 12.
Demonstrators evade police at G8 summit
By DPA
Heiligendamm (Germany) : Thousands of demonstrators determined to conduct a sit-down protest at the G8 summit evaded a police roadblock and streamed towards the summit venue Wednesday.
Prabhakaran still in Sri Lanka, says LTTE
By IANS,
Colombo : The elusive Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran is still in Sri Lanka and "giving leadership to our freedom struggle", the rebels have said, denying reports that he had fled.
Speaking to the BBC Sinhala radio service over telephone Monday, P. Nadesan, the political wing leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), dismissed reports that Prabhakaran had escaped from Sri Lanka.
"It is malicious propaganda. Our leader is still with us, our leader is giving leadership to our freedom struggle. He is with our people," the BBC quoted Nadesan as saying.
Chinese student sues Microsoft for privacy violation
By Xinhua
Beijing : A Beijing university student has sued Microsoft for infringing upon his privacy, demanding 1,350 yuan ($180) in compensation and an apology published in a national newspaper.
Peking University student Lu Feng said he installed Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage software according to prompts from the Windows XP operating system on his laptop only to find the programme enabled Microsoft to gather information about his computer and him, rather than solely checking whether or not the installed Windows XP system was genuine.
US slowdown could be an opportunity for China: economists
By Xinhua
Beijing : The impact on China of a US economic slowdown could eventually lead to positive results for the Asian country, according to Chinese economists and analysts.
The financial upheaval in the US will have a negative result on Chinese exports, said Wang Tongsan, director of the Institute of Quantitative and Technological Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
Wang noted that "a drop of one percentage point in American gross domestic product would lead to a five percentage-point decline in the growth rate of Chinese exports."
NATO to move warships to ‘monitor’ central Mediterranean
By DPA,
Brussels : NATO is to move warships to the central Mediterranean to monitor the situation in Libya, but not to take military action there, the alliance's secretary general said Thursday.
Italian PM Berlusconi resigns
By IANS,
Rome : Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi handed in his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano Saturday, Italy's presidential palace said.
Obamas fly to New York for dinner
By DPA,
Washington : President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama flew via Air Force One to New York Saturday evening for a "date" to take in dinner and a play.
They helicoptered from Kennedy International Airport to Lower Manhattan, continuing via presidential motorcade to the Washington Square Park neighbourhood. They dined at restaurant, Blue Hill, known for local cuisine from New York's Hudson Valley, The New York Times reported.
Obama pays tribute to military
By DPA,
Washington : The US will "do right by" its armed forces, past and present, President Barack Obama said Wednesday after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
Obama spoke at the Arlington National Cemetery as events were held across the world to mark the 91st anniversary of the end of World War I.
Commemorations to honour the war dead were given special poignancy by the rising death toll of troops deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I would love to be nursery school teacher: Hilton
By IANS,
London : Socialite Paris Hilton, who has remained in the news for her weird lifestyle, says she would have loved to be a school teacher or a veterinarian if she hadn't been famous.
Hilton starred in her own reality TV show, created several fragrances and tried her luck at singing as well.
"I have basically done everything but if I wasn't in the position I am in now I would love to be a nursery school teacher because I love kids," femalefirst.co.uk quoted her as saying.
US not to build new military bases in Africa: Bush
By Xinhua
Lagos : US President George W. Bush has said that the purpose of the new Africa Command (Africom) was not to build new military bases, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.
"We do not contemplate adding new bases, in other words the purpose of this is not to add military bases," Bush was quoted as saying Wednesday at a news conference in Accra, the capital of Ghana, during his fourth leg of five-nation African tour.
Rajapakse to contest for Sri Lankan PM’s post
Colombo : Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse has decided to contest for the prime ministership in the parliamentary elections scheduled to be held...
50 Cent touched by fans in Africa
By IANS,
London : Rapper 50 Cent was deeply touched when he went on a trip to Africa recently with his G-Unit labelmates because it made him realise just how much fans there had to spend to attend his concert.
50 Cent and his crew performed in South Africa and Tanzania and he had been effusive in his gratitude to his fans.
East Timor heads for coalition government
By DPA
Sydney : Counting is almost over from a weekend general election in East Timor that didn't deliver a mandate for either the ruling Fretilin or CNRT, a brand-new party led by former president Xanana Gusmao.
Powerful typhoon continues to batter Philippines, 61 killed
By DPA,
Manila : A powerful typhoon continued Sunday to batter the Philippines, leaving at least 61 people dead and thousands homeless, officials said.
At least 30 people were killed in the central province of Iloilo, 560 km south of Manila, where several towns have been inundated in flood waters. Nine more fatalities were reported in nearby Antique province.
Typhoon Fengshen, with maximum sustained winds of 120 km per hour near the centre and gusts of up to 150 km per hour, has also left 17 people dead in the southern provinces of Maguindanao and North Cotabato.
Singapore couples offered bigger perks for more babies
By DPA,
Singapore : In a desperate attempt to convince couples to have more babies, Singapore's government is offering a bonanza of tax benefits, leaves and other perks starting January.
The 1.6-billion-Singapore-dollar ($1.1 billion) package outlined in the media Thursday will benefit all parents.
Encouraging more births has been a national priority since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong focussed on the escalating problem of low birth rates in 2004. The current fertility rate of 1.29 is far from the replacement level of 2.1.
UN special envoy meets Myanmar’s Suu Kyi
By DPA,
Yangon : UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari Monday met Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a government guest house in Yangon, officials said.
The meeting lasted about one hour and 20 minutes, witnesses said. The content of the talks was not immediately revealed but should be disclosed later Monday when Gambari was scheduled to meet members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, Myanmar's main opposition party.
Heavy snowstorm kills 21 in Mongolia
By Xinhua,
Ulan Bator : At least 21 people were frozen to death in a heavy snowstorm which swept through seven provinces in Mongolia since Monday, said the Mongolian General Authority for Emergency Management (GAEM) Wednesday.
Now the GAEM is still in search of 51 people who got lost in the snowstorm.
In the eastern province of Suhbaatar, the wind speed had once reached 40 meters per second.
The snowstorm has also caused damage to buildings and electronic infrastructure, according to the GAEM.
Snowstorms usually occur in spring in Mongolia.
One killed, 17 wounded in insurgent attacks in Thai South
By Xinhua,
Bangkok : A school teacher was shot dead while 17 persons were wounded in a bomb explosion in two separate incidents in the troubled southern provinces of Pattani and Narathiwat early Thursday, according to the Thai news Agency.
A 53-year-old teacher was shot dead while he was driving a motorcycle to school in Pattani's Yarang district Thursday morning.
Another incident took place at a market in the Narathiwat provincial seat when a five-kilogramme bomb hidden inside a black motorcycle was detonated by a cell phone, police said.
Four killed in US shooting
By IANS,
New York : Four people, including two women, were killed and equal number of people injured in a shooting spree at a restaurant in the US Saturday, police said.
Keith Johnson, 25, has been charged with four counts of second-degree murder. Further charges are pending, local news website buffalonews.com reported.
The incident occurred outside the popular Main Street restaurant in the heart of the downtown Buffalo business district, where several parties, including a wedding anniversary, were being. Eight people were shot in the incident.
A teenage pregnancy and US presidential elections
By Mayank Chhaya, IANS,
Chicago : In this season thick with ideological intransigence, the news that the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant is symptomatic of how irresolvable the pregnancy-abortion-abstinence debate really is.
Queen fulfils lifelong dream at Kentucky Derby
By DPA
Washington : Britain's Queen Elizabeth II realized a lifelong dream by watching the most important annual US horse race, the 133rd Kentucky Derby, with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.
Two Algerian pilots die in mid-air collision
By IANS/EFE,
Algeria : Two Algerian air force pilots died when their planes collided during a training exercise, the defence ministry said Tuesday.
Nepal declares emergency in Saptakosi flood areas
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Faced with his first crisis within 72 hours of being sworn in, new Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" Thursday declared a state of emergency in the worst flood-devastated areas in southern Nepal to speed up rescue, relief and rehabilitation work.
25 ulemas to be banned in Pakistan at Muharram
Islamabad: Pakistan's Islamabad police have proposed that the entry of 25 ulemas into the city during Muharram should be banned by the local administration....
Indian woman found dead in Oman
Muscat: An Indian woman has been found dead in her apartment in Oman's Sohar city, hours after having lost her daughter and husband in...
Queen ensures William and Kate’s girl the Princess title
By IANS,
London: Making a significant change in existing Royal rules, Queen Elizabeth II has ensured that a daughter for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be given the title of Princess.
Road accident kills 15 in Kenya
By Xinhua
Nairobi : At least 15 people have been killed and several others injured when a van they were travelling in collided with a trailer near Eldoret town in western Kenya.
Police said the accident took place Monday afternoon at Moi's Bridge near the town, about 350 km from here. The death toll was likely to increase as several passengers were seriously hurt in the accident.
Catastrophic flooding submerges US Midwest
By DPA,
Washington : Sandbag levees have been breached in Iowa's capital Des Moines swamping yet another Midwestern city following more than a week of heavy rain in the US.
Flooding was feared in Des Moines after flood waters across the region continue to rise in what authorities are referring to as a 500-year flood event.
Authorities began to enforce evacuation orders in Des Moines neighbourhoods after a flood wall was breached near a school, broadcaster CNN reported Saturday.
At least nine rivers in the state have breached their banks.
Russia asks European court to limit Moscow theater siege files
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The Russian government has made a request to the Strasbourg court that public access to evidence from a 2002 Moscow theater siege be restricted, a lawyer for the victims' families said on Thursday.
"We have received notice from the European Court of Human Rights that a [Russian government] representative [in court] has requested that public access to the case files be restricted," Igor Trunov said.
Several western journalists arrested in Zimbabwe
By ANTARA News/DPA
Harare : Several journalists, including an American journalist, have been detained in Zimbabwe during a police search for journalists covering the country`s elections without accreditation, media and diplomatic sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur DPA.
The York Lodge, a hotel popular with Western journalists, was raised Thursday evening by police, the hotel confirmed.
Missing jet: Spotted objects best lead, says Australia
Perth: The suspicious objects spotted by satellite in the southern Indian Ocean remains "the best lead" in the massive search for the Malaysian airliner...
Nepal quake toll is 7,652
Kathmandu : The death toll in the deadly Nepal earthquake has touched 7,652 while 16,390 people have been injured, the home ministry said on...
UN`s Ban arrives in cyclone-hit Myanmar
By ANTARA News,
Yangon : UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived Thursday in Myanmar to press the junta to accept a full-scale relief operation for cyclone survivors, according to an AFP reporter at the airport.
Ban, the first UN chief to visit Myanmar since 1964, is due to meet with senior government officials Thursday morning and then tour the Irrawaddy Delta, which suffered the brunt of the cyclone.
The disaster left more than 133,000 people dead or missing in early May.
Latin American leaders, Cuban dissidents urge Obama to lift sanctions
By Prensa Latina,
La Paz(Bolivia)/Havana : Latin America's two leftist leaders have joined Cuban dissidents calling on US president-elect Barack Obama to lift the decades-old blockade on Cuba.
Bolivian President Evo Morales and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said they hoped the new administration of Obama, who has vowed to bring in change in US policies, would "lift the Washington-imposed economic, trade and financial blockade as well as withdraw US troops from some countries".
Obama backs Dalai Lama’s ‘Middle Way’ approach
By Arun Kumar , IANS,
Washington: In the face of objections from China,President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama Friday saying the US supports...
Voting begins in Indonesia’s presidential election
By DPA,
Jayapura (Indonesia) : Indonesians begin voting Wednesday in only the second direct presidential elections in the country's history, with incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is widely expected to win a second five-year term.
Voting commenced at 7 a.m. in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province, in the sprawling archipelago of more than 17,000 islands spanning three different time zones.
More than 176 million of the country's population of more than 230 million are eligible to vote at 450,000 polling stations.
Small aircraft with British businessmen disappears in Brazil
By DPA,
Rio de Janeiro : A light aircraft carrying four British businessmen has gone missing in Brazil, local media reported Saturday citing aviation authorities.
The twin-engine Cessna from the small airline Aero Star disappeared from radar late Friday over the north-eastern state of Bahia, the reports said.
The identities of the passengers has not been announced.
Travelling to the town of Ilheus from Salvador, the plane's last contact with control authorities had been late Friday evening. The pilots reported no problems, and said they were beginning landing maneuvers.
Cameron cabinet’s happy marriages record blemished
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London : The record of British Prime Minister David Cameron's cabinet as a group of happily married members with the least number of divorcees took a beating as Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne confirmed he is separating from his wife of 25 years and is in a relationship with another woman.
The 55-year-old Liberal Democrat MP said in a statement that he was in a serious relationship with a former journalist.
65 killed in China storms
By IANS,
Beijing: The toll in storms in southern China has risen to 65, officials said.
About 2.55 million people and 100,000 hectares of land were affected. At least 14 people were missing and 9,900 buildings have been damaged, Xinhua cited a statement released Friday by the state flood control and drought relief department.
Heavy rains lashed the provinces of Guangdong, Sichuan and Guizhou in southern China, causing floods and mudflows since Wednesday, leading the authorities to declare an emergency Friday.
Sushma Swaraj arrives in Nepal for donors conference
Kathmandu : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived here on Wednesday evening to participate in Thursday's international donors' conference on Nepal's post-earthquake reconstruction.
"As I...
Republicans Prepare New US Election Fraud
By Prensa Latina,
Washington : The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School has found that 25 percent of adult African-Americans, 15 percent of adults earning below $35,000 annually, and 18 percent of seniors over 65 do not possess government-issued photo IDs necessary to vote.
Hundreds of passengers evacuated at LA International Airport
Los Angeles (ANTARA News) - Hundreds of passengers were evacuated Sunday at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after a passenger made a suspicious comment, airport authorities said.
The evacuation caused the delay of two USAirways flights and 20 Southwest Airlines flights, holding up 1,850 passengers, according to airport officials.
Airport police ordered the evacuation after receiving a report that a male passenger made a suspicious comment about a bomb threat, said Nancy Castles of the Los Angeles World Airports.
Search for Italy’s quake victims continues
By DPA,
Rome : Rescue teams in Italy's central Abruzzo region continued to sift through the rubble Saturday, six days after an earthquake that left at least 290 dead.
Volunteer rescue workers using a special microphone had Friday night scoured the rubble of a house in the city of L'Aquila, where noises had been heard. There was however little hope of anyone being found alive, according to Italian media reports.
The quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale struck Monday, destroying scores of buildings in L'Aquila and other nearby towns in the Abruzzo region.
Pirates reduce ransom for Saudi tanker to $12 mn: report
By RIA Novosti,
Cairo : Somali pirates who are holding a Saudi supertanker after the largest hijacking in maritime history earlier this month have reduced their ransom demand from $25 million to $12 million, a leading Arabic newspaper reported Monday.
The Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted a source as saying that the ransom demand could be cut further to around $6-7 million and expected the incident to be resolved in the next three or four days.
Social networking sites benefit low-income group students
By IANS,
Washington : Students from low-income groups who use MySpace and Facebook are as technologically proficient as their richer counterparts, according to a study.
The University of Minnesota study found that 94 percent of these students used the Internet, 82 percent go online at home and 77 percent had a profile on a social networking site.
Two million men to be circumcised in South Africa
By IANS,
Durban: Over two million men will be circumcised in South Africa in a bid to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, a report said.
The project will be launched Sunday in KwaZulu-Natal region by King Goodwill Zwelithini, Premier Zweli Mkhize was quoted as saying by BuaNews Friday.
The initiative has received overwhelming support from HIV activists and the medical fraternity, the premier said while presenting the Royal Household Budget.
Foreigners grab 12,000 jobs monthly in Britain
By IANS,
London : Foreigners took more than 12,000 jobs a month in Britain while 1.2 million British youngsters sat idle at home, a media report said.
No further talks with China: Tibet meet
By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Dharamsala : A special meeting of Tibetans in exile here Saturday decided that no further talks would be held with China over the Tibet issue unless Beijing "responds positively" to their demands.
While "unanimously" reaffirming faith in the Dalai Lama, the meet threatened to "go for complete independence and self-determination" if the supreme Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader's middle path approach failed in the long run.
Zimbabwe vice-president Msika dies at 85
By DPA,
Johannesburg: One of Zimbabwe's vice-presidents, Joseph Msika, has died at the age of 85 after a battle with illness, the South African public radio reported Tuesday.
Msika died Tuesday in a hospital in Zimbabwe, the report said. He was admitted to hospital in South Africa in June after falling ill at a summit of eastern and southern African leaders, the radio report said.
Reports in Zimbabwe at the time said he had suffered a stroke. He had poor health since 2005.
Kyrgyzstan extends state of emergency to June 25
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Bishkek : Kyrgyzstan has extended a state of emergency in a number of districts in the Osh region to June 25, an official statement of the interim government said.
The emergency, imposed after ethnic clashes which claimed about 200 lives, was due to expire Sunday.
Violent clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups in southern cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad broke out June 11, leaving at least 191 dead and more than 2,000 injured, according to official figures. Kyrgyz leaders admit that the real toll could be 10 times higher.
UN adopts protocol to uphold rights to food, housing
By DPA,
New York : The UN General Assembly's human-rights committee Tuesday adopted a protocol giving people rights to housing, food, water and sanitation, and holding governments responsible for the lack of such essentials.
The human-rights committee, known as Third Committee, adopted the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights without a vote. Amnesty International praised the move.
17 killed in Peru bus accident
By IANS/EFE,
Lima : At least 17 people were killed and 15 injured when the bus in which they were travelling fell into a ravine in southern Peru, police said.
Fidel Castro for investment in health, not arms
By Prensa Latina
Havana : In a new reflection on the dangers currently gripping humanity, Cuban President Fidel Castro called for governments of the world to invest in public health and not arms.
BP’s oil cap holding amid tense wait for test results
By DPA,
Washington: BP's first successful effort to cap the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico held fast through Friday, but engineers will continue watching tensely for signs of more leaks in the coming hours and day.
While pressure readings were slightly below levels that authorities had hoped for, they remained "consistent" with a well that had not sprung any extra leaks, said Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is managing the government's response to the disaster.
Stalin’s granddaughter dies at 69
By Xinhua
Moscow : Galina Dzhugashvili, granddaughter of the erstwhile Soviet Union leader Josef Stalin, has died at the age of 69, Itar-Tass news agency reported Tuesday.
A spokesperson at the Burdenko Military Hospital, where Galina was admitted, confirmed her death Monday.
Galina was the only daughter of Yakov Dzhugashvili, Stalin's elder son and a Soviet pilot who was reportedly killed by the Nazis at the Sachsenhausen camp in 1943 after Stalin declined to exchange him for a captured German general.
Blair named for American honour but ignores gold medal
By IANS,
London : Former British premier Tony Blair is to be presented with one of America's highest civilian honours but is yet to pick up a Congressional gold medal awarded to him in 2003.
Blair will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom Jan 13 along with President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, and former premier John Howard of Australia.
Serbia calls for talks to resolve Kosovo issue
By DPA,
New York : Serbian President Boris Tadic has told the UN Security Council only talks can resolve the "bad situation" resulting from Kosovo's declaration of independence.
Tadic Monday made yet another appearance before the 15-nation Security Council, but this time behind closed doors, to plead for UN action to annul the independence declaration of Kosovo, which Serbia considers its province.
Ronald Reagan monument unveiled in Georgia
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Tbilisi : A monument to former US president Ronald Reagan has been unveiled in Tbilisi, the capital and largest city of Georgia.
11 die as cargo plane crashes in Russia
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Vladivostok (Russia) : Eleven people, including nine crewmembers, on board a cargo plane were killed Tuesday when their aircraft crashed in Russia's Far East, officials said.
Australia gets new PM – Kyoto Protocol ratified
By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was sworn in as the 26th prime minister of Australia Monday, nine days after he rode to power in elections that ended 11 years of conservative rule in the country.
And soon after assuming office, Rudd signed the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol as a "first official act".
"This is the first official act of the new Australian government, demonstrating my government's commitment to tackling climate change," Rudd said in a statement.
China’s GDP up 6.1 percent in first quarter
By Xinhua,
Beijing : China's economy expanded by 6.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, official data showed Thursday.
The quarterly growth rate was the lowest in 10 years as the global financial crisis continued to affect the world's fastest-growing economy.
It was 4.5 percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2008 and down 0.7 percentage points from the previous quarter.
Gross domestic product (GDP) reached 6.5745 trillion yuan ($939 billion) in the first quarter, Li Xiaochao, spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said at a press conference.
Obama names Indian-American lawyer Preeta Bansal to key post
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : President-elect Barack Obama has appointed a leading Indian-American lawyer Preeta Bansal as General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of Management (OMB) and Budget at the White House.
The announcement Monday on the eve of his taking over as the 44th president of US was an indication of how quickly he wants to get on with the business of tackling the economic crisis by cutting waste and making the government more efficient.
Ruling party expected to win provincial polls in Sri Lanka
By DPA,
Colombo : Sri Lanka's ruling party was poised to win elections being held Saturday in two of the nine provinces in what is widely seen as a prelude to snap parliamentary polls this year.
The voting to select members of provincial councils was being held in the central and north-western provinces where more than 3.4 million voters are registered to vote.
Ex-soldier elected as Tibet governor
By IANS,
Beijing : Former armyman Padma Choling was elected governor of Tibet Friday by the regional parliament.
Choling, a Tibetan who served in the People's Liberation Army from 1969 to 1986, was elected governor at the regional parliamentary session, Xinhua reported.
He has replaced Qiangba Puncog, whose resignation was endorsed by the regional People's Congress Friday.
Choling, 59, was elected vice-chairman of the regional government in 2003.
Solzhenitsyn gets Russia’s top award for human rights
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russian President Vladimir Putin has honoured Nobel literature laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn with the top state award as a champion of humanitarian causes.
World’s leading nations violate human rights: Amnesty
By DPA,
New York : Amnesty International Wednesday delivered fierce charges against the US and the European Union (EU) for failing to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), demanding they apologise to the world.
The London-based human rights advocacy group also singled out several countries for their failures, including China, for consistently flaunting the UDHR, which celebrates its 60th birthday this year.
"World leaders owe an apology for failing to deliver on the promise of justice and equality in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Amnesty said.
India’s IT professionals upset with Obama
By Maitreyee Boruah,IANS,
Bangalore : Indian IT professionals Tuesday slammed President Barack Obama's move to end tax incentives for US companies that ship jobs to countries like India, saying it will neither benefit the US nor its corporate sector.
"Obama's latest move was expected, but unwelcome at a time when Bangalore's IT and BPO sectors are already reeling under the global economic meltdown," said Padma Nair, 26, an IT-professional working for a Bangalore-based American company.
Indian American physicians’ assembly in Florida in June
Washington: Over 2,000 physicians are expected to attend the Annual Convention of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) in Florida between June...
US tags Haqqani leader’s brother as global terrorist
Washington: The US authorities have named Sirajuddin Haqqani, brother of Haqqani Network chief Aziz Haqqani, a "specially designated global terrorist", the State Department said...
HSMP changes unlawful, unreasonable, unfair, British court told
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".
First Chinese military official attends China-U.S. strategic dialogue
By Xinhua
Beijing : A Chinese general attended the ongoing China-U.S. Strategic Dialogue here on Thursday, the first Chinese military official at the dialogue.
Ding Jingong, deputy head of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense (MND),joined the dialogue along with James Shinn, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, according to an MND foreign affairs office press release.
The dialogue, the fifth such event, is being co-chaired by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.
Researchers identify gene linked to schizophrenia
By IANS,
Sydney: Researchers have identified a new gene that is linked to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The gene called ABCA13 is active in the hippocampus (part of the brain where information is transferred into memory) and the cortex (brain's outermost layers), but had not been associated with mental illness.
Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder marked by severely impaired thinking, emotions and behaviour, while bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that causes radical emotional changes.