US stocks plunge as Fed moves fail to calm investors
By DPA,
Washington : US stocks fell sharply again Tuesday as investors remained unconvinced that new lending avenues created by the Federal Reserve would unblock credit to the struggling US economy.
The three major stock indices each fell more than 5 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 500 points and the broader S&P 500 dropped below 1,000 points for the first time in five years.
F-22 Raptor air dominance fighters deployed in Alaska
By IANS
Washington : Ceremonies held at Elmendorf Air Force Base (AFB), Alaska Thursday marked the formal beginning of operations for the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air dominance fighter in the Pacific region.
The F-22 is the world's only operational fifth-generation fighter. It blends stealth, speed, agility and sensor fusion. The aircraft has been in operational service with the US Air Force since December 2005.
250 killed as Kathmandu’s iconic tower collapses
Kathmandu: A total of 250 people were killed when the 183-year-old iconic Dharahara tower, which gave visitors a panoramic view of Kathmandu, collapsed on...
Villagers storm Chinese plant to protest poisoning
By Xinhua,
Xian (China) : Several hundred villagers in northwest China's Shaanxi province Monday stormed a smelting plant to protest lead poisoning of over 600 children.
The villagers became agitated after a teenager in Changqing township in Fengxiang county in Baoji attempted to commit suicide by drinking pesticide Sunday after her request for a blood test was denied by her parents.
At least 615 children, of a total 731 under the age of 14 living in two villages near the plant have shown excessive lead levels in their blood systems.
Italy quake toll rises to seven
By IANS,
Rome : The toll from a 5.9-magnitude quake in northern Italy rose to seven Monday.
Texas struggles to provide relief to hurricane victims
By Xinhua,
Washington : The U.S. state of Texas was struggling to provide relief to its residents who have been badly hit by the Hurricane Ike on Monday, as the storm moved to Canada.
According to a CNN report, the Hurricane Ike has moved into Canada after it left a trail of destruction from the U.S. Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes.
However, the state government was still urging thousands of people to leave some badly-hit area where relief supplies could hardly be delivered to meet victims' need.
G8/G20 leaders urged to have new policies for economic recovery
By IANS,
Ottawa : Meeting ahead of the G8 and G20 summits here in June, heads of business chambers from the G8 industrialised nations urged their leaders to institute new polices to sustain recovery from the global economic meltdown.
The leaders of the largest business associations in the G8 nations Wednesday released the 'G8 Business Declaration' as their input for the G8/G20 summits. They called on the G8 and G20 governments to implement coordinated policies to restore confidence in global markets.
Fed bails out troubled AIG with $85 bn loan
By DPA,
Washington : The US central bank has agreed to bail out the insurance giant American International Group (AIG) with a $85-billion loan in an unprecedented move aimed at propping up a company with worldwide tentacles in the finance industry.
Fearing a possible second major Wall Street bankruptcy this week, the Federal Reserve Board engineered an AIG rescue through a two-year loan that gives the government a stake of 79.9 percent in the conglomerate.
France launches military satellite
By IANS,
Paris: France has launched a military satellite from the Kourou launch site in French Guiana.
The Helios 2B satellite was launched atop Arianne 5 rocket by the Arianespace centre in South America, Xinhua reported. The rocket lifted off at 1626 GMT Friday.
The 4.2-tonne satellite, heading into sun-synchronous polar orbit, is part of the second-generation observation system for security and defence applications developed by France in collaboration with Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece.
Global food crisis a silent tsunami: WFP
By DPA,
London : The UN World Food Programme (WFP) Tuesday compared the escalating global food crisis to a "silent tsunami" that could plunge more than 100 million people into hunger and poverty.
Josette Sheeran, executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said the international community needed to respond like it did to 2004's giant Indian Ocean wave which killed 250,000 people and left 10 million destitute.
Germany’s first driverless mass-transit train goes to work
By DPA,
Nuremberg (Germany) : Germany's first driverless mass-transit train went into operation Sunday without fanfare in the southern city of Nuremberg, with a computer in charge for the whole day.
Driverless trains are already in use in other nations, including the Singapore's North East Metro Line (NEL) operating since 2003, but Nuremberg says its system is unique because it mixes human-driven and computer-controlled trains on the same track.
UN lashes out at governments for failing their citizens
By DPA,
New York : The UN General Assembly president Thursday criticised governments for failing their responsibility in building up a strong economy to protect their people's living conditions.
A one-day debate on the world economic crisis began at UN headquarters in New York with Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, leader of the 192-nation organisation, saying that the complex economic crisis has exposed failure by the dominant markets.
Georgia asks for UN debate on Russian missile ‘aggression’
By DPA
New York : Days after a Russian missile landed on its territory, Georgia has branded it an "act of aggression" and demanded the United Nations Security Council debate the incident.
The Georgian mission to the UN said it planned to submit a request for a meeting of the 15-nation council. But discussion by the body, even in a closed session, can be vetoed by Russia, one of the five permanent members with veto power. Other nations with veto power are the US, China, Britain and France.
Sri Lanka seeks aid for civilian crisis, endgame for LTTE
By IANS,
Colombo : Sri Lanka and the UN Thursday made frantic appeals for assistance as the exodus of Tamil civilians from the war zone escalated into a grave humanitarian crisis even as the government claimed that the Tamil Tigers were about to be crushed, ending one of the world's longest running insurgencies.
With the number of Tamil refugees crossing the 103,000-mark, the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka Neil Buhne gave a heart-rending account of the plight of the civilians after visiting some camps.
Blame genes, not employer for job stress
By IANS,
Washington : Genes could play a role in your stress levels linked with jobs, not your employer, says a study.
Malaysia Airlines plane makes emergency landing
Melbourne: A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet on Friday made an emergency landing at an airport in Australia's Melbourne city after a false alert about...
Indonesian media report ex-president Suharto’s health improving
By RIA Novasti
Jakarta : The condition of former Indonesian dictator Suharto, who recently suffered multiple organ failure, has improved, Indonesian media reported on Monday.
"I believe his will to live is very strong because he was a soldier," doctor Marjo Subiandono told the Antara news agency.
Another doctor, Yusuf Misbah, said the former president was neither in a coma nor fully conscious.
World’s largest polluters debate climate as G8 summit ends
By RIA Novosti,
Toyako (Hokkaido) : Leaders of rich and developing nations failed to overcome differences on tackling climate change but agreed on the need for major emissions cuts, as the G8 summit concluded in Japan on Wednesday.
The talks between the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations and eight major developing economies on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido came a day after the G8 adopted a statement calling for a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Rare diamond fetches over $10 mn at Hong Kong auction
By Xinhua
Hong Kong : A 72.22 carat diamond has fetched 80 million Hong Kong dollars ($10.26 million) at a Sotheby's auction here, making it one of the most expensive jewels sold in Asia.
The pear-shaped diamond of D colour, which is the clearest category, is of "flawless clarity and excellent polish and symmetry", according to Sotheby's, which also offered over 300 jewels and jadeite items worth some 400 million HK dollars Thursday.
Sotheby's said the buyer would be given the right to name the diamond.
Harris joins animal welfare campaign
By IANS,
London: American musician Emmylou Harris has joined forces with animal welfare charity Crossroad Campus to help the distressed animals.
Thunderstorms Forecast For China’s Quake-hit Sichuan Province
By Bernama,
Beijing : The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) on Monday warned that thunderstorms will hit eastern parts of the earthquake-hit Sichuan Province on Monday and Tuesday, XINHUA reported.
Sichuan, in southwest China, was rocked by an 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12, which claimed at least 62,664 lives and left 358,816 injured and 23,775 missing, according to the State Council Information Office.
The forecast weather could increase the risks posed by river blockages in some quake-hit areas.
Indonesian businessman charged in deadly stampede
By DPA,
Jakarta : Indonesian police Tuesday charged a businessman with negligence after his free cash handouts caused a stampede that left at least 21 people dead and dozens injured.
National police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira said that Haji Farouk will be charged with negligence resulting in death, an offence punishable with up to five years in jail.
Farouk, a member of a well-to-do Indonesian Muslim family, was involved in distributing cash handouts in the East Java district of Pasuruan, about 800 km east of Jakarta Monday.
6.1-magnitude earthquake jolts Indonesia’s Papua
By DPA,
Jakarta : An earthquake registering 6.1 on the Richter scale struck off the easternmost Indonesian province of West Papua Sunday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, the Indonesian seismological agency said.
The quake struck at 12.36 p.m. local time (0336 GMT) and was centred in the sea about 123 km north-west of Manokwari on West Papua province, and occurred at about 56 km beneath the seabed, Indonesia's National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.
Fire traps 27 workers in China coal mine
By IANS,
Changsha (China) : Twenty-seven miners remained trapped inside a coal mine in central China after a fire broke out in the facility, an official said Tuesday.
The accident took place at 2 p.m. in Lisheng coalmine in Tanjiashan town in Hunan province, Xinhua reported. Officials have meanwhile launched a search for the trapped miners.
Chavez confirms Colombian rebels’ offer to release three hostages
By IANS
Montevideo(Uruguay) : Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has confirmed he had received a communiqué from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that the rebel group has offered to release three of its hostages and hand them over to him or anyone nominated by him to receive them.
Talking to reporters Tuesday after the close of the Mercosur summit in this capital city of Uruguay, Chavez said, "It seems to me that it's a good Christmas present, most of all for the families of these people," Spain's EFE news agency reported Wednesday.
Indian-American Aziz Ansari ranked sixth top paid comedian
Washington : Indian-American Aziz Ansari has debuted on the Forbes list of Highest-Paid Comedians 2015 with $9.5 million in earnings, thanks to his fan-favourite...
Women in Germany earn 22 percent less than men: EU official
By IRNA,
Berlin : Women in Germany are significantly being paid less than men, European Union Social Commissioner Vladimir Spidla told the Hamburg-based Die Welt newspaper on Monday.
The average hourly salary of German women is 22 percent below the level of men, the top EU official said.
Only Estonia, Cyprus and Slovakia have a greater wage gap. On the average, women earn 15 percent less than men in EU countries, Spidla added.
He urged employers to follow the principle of 'same work same pay'.
Putin gets parliament’s nod for armed forces in Ukraine
Moscow: Russian Federal Council, or upper house of the parliament, Saturday approved President Vladimir Putin's request for using armed forces in Ukraine.
After the approval,...
Predators too prefer food with nutritional value
By IANS,
Sydney: Predators can also be quite finicky about food, preferring that which offers high nutritional value rather than calorie content.
UN reports surge in Darfur fighting, high fatalities
By DPA,
New York : Fighting in Sudan's Darfur region has increased in recent weeks, creating a serious hindrance to peacekeeping efforts, United Nations and African officials said Monday.
Speakers addressing the UN Security Council since last week have reported a surge in the conflict between the Sudanese government and rebel groups.
The fighting in Darfur killed 447 people in May, which UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari termed as an "unprecedented" number of fatalities.
12 killed in floods, landslides in the Philippines
By SPA
Manila : At least 12 people were killed and several more were missing due to floods and landslides triggered by a week of heavy rains in the eastern Philippines, relief officials said Thursday, according to DPA.
The impoverished province of Eastern Samar, 630 kilometres south-east of Manila, was the worst hit, with nine people killed in the floods there.
Two more were killed in the nearby province of Leyte, while another was buried by a landslide in Albay province.
Obama to send 3,000 soldiers to Africa to fight Ebola
By Lucia Leal,
Washington : US President Barack Obama has expanded his strategy to fight the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa with his...
London march against ‘Wahhabi’ terrorism
By IRNA
London : Muslims in Britain are being urged to join a march through central London on Saturday to denounce the extreme elements of Wahhabism that is blamed as the main instigators of international terrorism.
The protest is "in defence of our sanctities, our honour, our freedom, our blood and our Islamic region," said the organizers of the march, which culminates in a rally outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy.
London : Muslims in Britain are being urged to join a march through central London on Saturday to denounce the extreme elements of Wahhabism that is blamed as the main instigators of international terrorism.
The protest is "in defence of our sanctities, our honour, our freedom, our blood and our Islamic region," said the organizers of the march, which culminates in a rally outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy.
Chinese city to put GPS in government vehicles
By IANS,
Beijing : Government vehicles in China's Guangzhou city will have Global Positition System (GPS) to curb misuse and reduce unnecessary expenditure, an official said.
China to build 9 new nuclear plants in two years
By RIA Novosti,
Beijing : China is planning to build at least nine new nuclear power plants in the next two years, the China Daily said on Wednesday.
The newspaper quoted the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) as saying that the new plants will help achieve the country's goal of having 40 gigawatts of installed nuclear capacity by 2020, accounting for 4% of national generating capacity.
Chinese pandas seen eating bones rather than bamboo
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Some Chinese pandas have started eating animal bones instead of their traditionally-preferred diet of bamboo, state-run China Central Television has said.
The bizarre change in the endangered creatures' diet is thought to be due to the large-scale cutting down of bamboo forests in China, says a RIA Novosti report.
According to eyewitnesses, wild pandas have been chewing on bones and spitting out the meat in pig pens in a region of southwest China's Sichuan province.
Pope Benedict expresses support for UN
By DPA,
New York : Pope Benedict XVI Friday expressed his support for the UN by linking its responsibility to help people with that of the Catholic Church.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is not known for discussing his religious beliefs, responded warmly, saying that the UN was blessed that Benedict came "to lift our spirits and our faith".
The German-born pope and leader of church dogma came forth in his 20-minute address to the UN General Assembly, packed with representatives from 192 countries, urging the organization to realize its mission.
Washington museum covers broad swath of espionage history
By DPA,
Washington : Espionage is called the second oldest profession in the world and it's no less thrilling and wild as the world's oldest profession, prostitution.
For centuries, people have spied on each other, fascinated by the intrigue, deception and in modern times by the latest technical gadgetry used to uncover secrets. And naturally, after the end of the Cold War, stories of espionage and the objects used to spy during that historical era became an obvious subject for a museum.
Volcano eruption under Antarctica ice sheet confirmed
By Xinhua
Beijing : Evidence of a powerful volcano, which erupted under the ice sheet of West Antarctica around 325 BC and might still be active now, has been confirmed by British scientists, according to media reports Monday.
A layer of volcanic ash and glass shards frozen within an ice sheet in West Antarctica was identified in an article published in the journal Nature Geosciences by Hugh F. J. Corr and David G. Vaughan.
British Indians get waterway to perform cremation ritual
By IANS
London : A river in northern England could soon become Britain's answer to the Ganga as the place for Hindus and Sikhs to scatter the ashes of their loved ones - an important Hindu cremation ritual.
Gateshead Council in Tyneside has designated part of Derwent River for Sikhs and Hindus to carry out the ceremony. Bahal Singh Dindsa, a local Sikh, praised the council for being forward-thinking.
Mexico City partly returns to normal as flu cases fall
By Xinhua,
Mexico City : Authorities in the Mexican capital, the region worst hit by the deadly influenza A(H1N1), have reopened some public institutions as the number of flu-linked hospitalisations continued to fall.
"We now have to focus on ensuring that the daily activities we are restarting are followed with appropriate precautions," Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon said at his daily press conference Wednesday.
Mexico City has been on high alert for nearly two weeks due to the flu virus that has killed 42 and infected 1,112 in the nation.
Dalai Lama voices concern over climate change
By IANS,
Jammu: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama who arrived Sunday in the Buddhists dominated town of Leh in Jammu and Kashmir on a three-week visit voiced his concern over climate change caused by global warming, which he said had started showing its "ill-effects on humanity".
The Dalai Lama, who is in Leh to interact with his disciples, was speaking to a group of prominent citizens of Leh.
The Buddhist spiritual leader said that allout efforts needed to be made to reverse the trend of global warming.
China becomes Russia’s biggest trading partner
By IANS,
Beijing : China has become Russia's biggest trading partner, with exports and imports between the two countries at $50.8 billion from January to August, a media report Sunday said.
Helicopter crash kills six in Russia
By Xinhua
Moscow : At least six people died when a helicopter crashed in Russia's far east, media reports said Sunday.
The wreckage of the Mi-8 carrier, with three pilots and four passengers onboard, was found in the Magadan region Saturday, Itar-Tass news agency reported. Only the captain survived, said emergency authorities.
The helicopter, owned by a regional forest protection base, was on a commercial flight to the Burgali River. It crashed and caught fire near Suruktash Mountain, the authorities said.
European agency counts 1,000 global swine flu cases
By DPA,
Stockholm : The number of confirmed cases of novel influenza A (H1N1), better known as swine flu, worldwide topped 1,000 Monday, according to tallies released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
In Europe the number stood at 79 while there were 20 further probable cases including 10 in France, eight in Britain and one case in Portugal and Sweden each.
The Swedish case was reported to be a woman in her 50s who arrived last week from New York. Final tests were still pending, the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control said.
Thai premier ready to talk with protest leaders
By DPA,
Bangkok : Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said Saturday that he was willing to talk with protest leaders holding Bangkok's two airports hostage in their bid to topple his government but would not resign or dissolve parliament.
Recession-hit Italians cutting medical expenses
By IANS/AKI,
Rome: More than half of households in recession-hit Italy are regularly buying food at discount stores and slashing their medical expenses, the central statistics office Istat said.
Colombian navy destroys rebel shipyard
By IANS,
Bogota : The Colombian navy has destroyed a shipyard belonging to the country's largest insurgency group in Valle Province, Spain's EFE news agency reported.
According to officials the dilapidated shipyard belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Five tonnes of chemicals, used for making explosives by the rebels, were also destroyed at the site, an official said Thursday.
The site near the Yurumangui river also had housing facilities for the rebels.
What warming? Climate change slips down global priorities
By Chris Cermak, DPA,
Washington : You might call it the fourth crisis. While collapsing financial institutions plunge wealthy nations into recession and developing countries grapple with surging food and energy costs, the once urgent need to fight global warming seems to have taken a back seat.
Just last year, nearly every global and regional summit put climate change at the top of its agenda. Now it seems to have become an afterthought.
US wants Lockerbie bomber to stay in Scotland
By KUNA
London : The US State Department said Friday it is standing by an international agreement requiring the Lockerbie bomber to serve his sentence in Scotland.
Acting Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Volker told BBC Radio Scotland he expected the original deal to be "followed through." The UK and Libya recently struck an agreement over prisoner transfers.
Scottish ministers have been promised a veto on any bid by Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi to return to Libya.
US welcomes rise of ‘prosperous, peaceful, stable China’
Beijing : President Barack Obama Monday said the US welcomes the rise of a prosperous, peaceful and stable China.
Speaking at the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic...
Co-op sought in Indonesian nuclear plans
By Xinhua,
Jakarta : The Indonesian government is considering offering incentives for regions that allow part of their area to be used as a site for nuclear power plants.
"The concept is being formulated by a working team for nuclear power plants under the ministry," the Jakarta Post daily Thursday quoted Evita H. Legowo, an expert adviser at the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, as saying.
Nevertheless, opposition from local communities had been a major problem in developing nuclear power plants, she said.
China says seven killed in Tibet
By AFP
Beijing : China warned Saturday it would use a firm hand to quash the biggest protests in Tibet for decades, acknowledging seven people had been killed in unrest there just months before the Olympic Games. Witnesses said tanks were in the streets of the Tibetan capital Lhasa as part of a heavy security clampdown after violent riots erupted on Friday following days of protests against China's controversial rule in the region.
Sterile male cancer survivors can now father kids
By IANS,
Washington: Men rendered sterile by aggressive cancer therapy may still be able to father children, says a new study.
Paul Turek, former professor at the University of California-San Francisco and founder of the Turek Clinic, who led the study, pioneered the technique, called Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) sperm mapping, that is able to discover pockets of viable sperm in the testes.
The sperm can then be extracted with minimally invasive procedures and used for in-vitro fertilisation and single sperm injection.
A.Q. Khan network must be dismantled, stresses India
By IANS,
London : India Wednesday called for the world's most powerful countries to work together in order to dismantle the nuclear smuggling network run by A.Q. Khan, the so-called father of the Pakistani bomb.
"On the A.Q. Khan network, we feel that there is a need for much more transparency, not only about what happened in the past, but there's a need for us to be certain that nothing like that will happen again," Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters here.
Democrats insist Republicans back finance rescue plan
By DPA,
Washington : The US Congress wrestled Friday across political divides over a deeply unpopular giant financial industry rescue plan as majority Democrats insisted that Republicans get on board before putting it to a vote.
The White House pulled out all the stops, sending its representatives to Capitol Hill where negotiations continued over the controversial $700-billion life raft for Wall Street.
NATO, Russia consider joint missile defence plan
By DPA,
Moscow : NATO and Russia might discuss the possibility of cooperating in an alliance-wide, anti-missile system, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.
China bird flu toll rises to 11
By IANS/EFE,
Beijing: The new strain of bird flu detected last month in eastern China has taken another victim in Shanghai, raising the toll to 11, authorities said.
Former union boss to head New Zealand’s main opposition party
Wellington : Former trade union head Andrew Little was Tuesday named the new leader of New Zealand's main opposition Labour Party and charged with...
Thousands stranded after English Channel tunnel fire
By RIA Novosti,
Paris : More than 20,000 people have been stranded after a fire broke out in the Channel Tunnel last night, causing all Eurostar trains on the key undersea route linking France and Britain to be cancelled.
The fire occurred some 11 km from the French entrance to the tunnel at Calais at around 14:00 GMT on Thursday on a truck aboard a freight train carrying 32 lorry drivers and their vehicles.
No passenger trains were travelling through the tunnel at the time of the incident.
Sri Lankan private bank to be taken over
By IANS,
Colombo : Sri Lanka's central bank Monday instructed the country's largest state-owned commercial bank to take over the administration of the third largest private bank, the Seylan Bank, saying that the difficulties it faced on deposit withdrawals and ensuing liquidity problems are posing "a potential danger to the stability of the financial system in the country".
Zimbabwe’s Mugabe tells US and Britain: Keep Out!
New York, Sep 27 (DPA) Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe told Britain and the US to stay out of his country's business, and said a recent agreement on constitutional changes with the country's opposition showed Zimbabwe could manage its own problems.
Mugabe Wednesday attacked Britain's new Prime Minister Gordon Brown - who last week called for greater international pressure to bring democracy back to Zimbabwe - and also US President George W. Bush.
Twin fires raging along California central coast
By SPA,
Big Sur, Calif. : Weary firefighters got no Independence Day reprieve from a pair of out-of-control wildfires that roared along California's central coast, chewing through opposite ends of an arid forest in the Los Padres National Forest, the Associated Press reported.
Despite cooler temperatures and light winds, flames from the stubborn fire that forced the evacuation of Big Sur inched closer to historic vacation retreats. Meanwhile, firefighters farther south dealt with winds with speeds up to 40 mph that fanned a wildfire in Santa Barbara County.
Brown sends message to Muslims for Ramadan
By KUNA,
London : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent his best wishes on Friday to Muslims in the UK and around the world for the beginning of the sacred month of Ramadan tomorrow.
In a message released by Downing Street, Brown said that Ramadan is a time for family and friends when Muslims around the world "focus more on others then themselves." "As you come together every day for the next month to break the fast, thoughts will be of faith, families and togetherness," he said.
Samaraweera, Paranawitharana will take a month to recover: official
By P. Karunakharan, IANS,
Colombo : Sri Lankan batsmen Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranawitharana, who suffered gunshot injuries when the Sri Lankan cricket team came under a targeted terrorist attack in Lahore Tuesday, have undergone surgeries and will take at least a month to get back to cricket, a medical official said here Thursday.
250,000 Russians dodged conscription in 2012
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : About 250,000 Russians dodged compulsory military service last year, a military official said.
Earthquake rocks Chile
By IANS/EFE,
Santiago : A magnitude-6.1 earthquake Thursday shook three regions in central and southern Chile, causing alarm but no casualties or serious damage, authorities said.
Oxford top British university: Times Guide
By IANS,
London : Oxford tops the chart of best British universities, marginally bettering Cambridge, thanks to better spending on students' facilities, according to a guide published Thursday. Nearly 20,000 Indian students join British universities every year.
Cambridge, however, has the better record on research, entry standards and graduate destinations, enabling it to dominate the guide's 61 subject tables, according to the Times Good University Guide published Thursday.
Power station successfully traps CO2 emission
By IANS,
Sydney : In a pilot project that has far-reaching implications, an Australian power station has used a “carbon capturing” plant to trap a bulk of its CO2 emissions.
The “post-combustion-capture (PCC) pilot plant” at the Loy Yang Power Station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley trapped up to 85 percent of its CO2 emissions.
The 10.5 metre-high pilot plant is designed to capture up to 1,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from the power station's exhaust-gas flues. Future trials will involve the use of a range of different CO2-capture liquids.
Italian town allows owners to be buried with pets
By IANS,
By AKI,
Pisa: A town in northern Italy has set aside land for dead people to be buried along with their deceased beloved furry friends.
G20 meeting warns of slowdown in global economic growth
By Xinhua
Kleinmond (South Africa) : The world economic growth is likely to slow down modestly, according to a communiqué issued Sunday at the end of a two-day meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) countries here.
"The likely slowdown in global economic growth is expected to be modest, its extent and duration remains difficult to predict. G20 members welcomed the continued strong growth of the global economy in the first half of 2007 but noted that downside risks to the near-term outlook have increased as a consequence of recent financial market disturbances," it said.
China has 25 mn Christians
By IANS,
Beijing : China, a country with a population of 1.3 billion, has about 25 million Christians, said a state-run Chinese daily Monday.
Minister Vows To Raise Nuclear Issue In Inter-korean Dialogue
By Bernama
Seoul : Seoul will not shy away from raising the North Korean nuclear issue in future talks with the communist state, Yonhap news agency quoted South Korea's unification minister as saying Wednesday.
Kim Ha-joong also said his government will slow the pace of inter-Korean engagement until progress is made in six-party negotiations on dismantling the North's nuclear programmes.
Austria gives Bhutan $8 mn for electrification
By IANS,
Vienna : Austria has provided a $7.92 million (5.8 million euro) credit to Bhutan for electrification of its villages, the Austrian foreign ministry has said.
US will not ease sanctions on Cuba: Bush
By DPA,
Washington : US President George W. Bush said Wednesday the US will not ease sanctions on Cuba until the communist island's leadership enacts real reforms that will lead to democracy.
The Cuban government's recent easing of restrictions to allow the population greater access to technology like mobile phones and computers amounted to "empty gestures" average Cubans cannot afford, Bush said.
China’s First Manned Space Mission
By SPA
Beijing : China plans to carry out its first spacewalk in second half of the year, an official of the nation's manned space program said here on Thursday, according to Xinhua.
The Shenzhou VII spacecraft will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu latein the year and the astronauts will leave their spacecraft for the first time, the official told Xinhua.
The spacecraft will also release a small inspection satellite, which monitors its own performance.
Obama supporters in Delhi jubilant
By IANS,
New Delhi : As news of Barack Obama becoming the first African American president of the US came in, hundreds of his supporters who had gathered at the American Center here to watch the live telecast of the announcement broke into cries of jubilation Wednesday.
“It has been such a long campaign. We came here divided - as republicans or democrats, now we leave as Americans,” said an emotional Larry Schwartz, minister councillor of public affairs at the American Center.
Israeli nuclear spy sent back to prison
By DPA
Jerusalem : Israeli nuclear spy Mordechai Vanunu is returning to prison after a Jerusalem court convicted him Monday to six months jail for violating the terms of his parole, Israel Radio reported.
Oil prices slide
By IANS,
New York : Crude oil prices plunged Thursday amid rising expectations that the US and Europe will release strategic reserves.
Japan’s ruling coalition to fall short of majority
By DPA,
Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and its coalition partner would fail to win in Sunday's upper house elections the 56 seats it requires to control the chamber, news reports said.
After polling stations closed at 8 p.m. (11 a.m. GMT), some Japanese media exit polls showed the DPJ and its partner, the People's New Party, would take fewer than 50 seats while the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) would gain around 50 seats and Your Party, the most popular small party, would win about 10 seats.
Crimea is part of Russia: Belarusian president
Minsk: Belarus's President Aleksandr Lukashenko Sunday said the country accepts Crimea to be a de-facto part of Russia.
"Crimea isn't an independent state. It's part...
US suggests Russia can monitor missile defence elements
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The United States has proposed an array of confidence building measures to Russia, allowing Moscow to monitor the missile defence elements in Central Europe.
"We will be able to track what the radar (in the Czech Republic) is doing and the real condition of the interceptor missile base (in Poland) -- involving both the human factor and technical means," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Izvestia newspaper Thursday.
One out of five British MPs suffer mental illnesses
By IANS,
London : Over a fifth of British MPs have experienced a mental health problem, but are too scared to talk in case they lose their seat, a survey has revealed.
An anonymous survey of 94 MPs, 100 lords and 151 parliamentary staff members showed that 19 percent of MPs, 17 percent of peers and 45 percent of parliamentary staff said they had experienced a mental health problem, reported The Independent.
But one in three said work-based stigma and expecting a hostile reaction from press and public stopped them from being open about these problems.
World Economic Forum on Africa opens in Cape Town
By DPA,
Cape Town : The World Economic Forum on Africa opened in Cape Town Wednesday against the backdrop of rising food prices that further aggravate food insecurity on the continent.
Around 800 political and business leaders from over 50 countries are attending the three-day summit, which will discuss, among other things, how Africa can confront the global food and energy crises.
The forum organisers Wednesday highlighted Africa's growing ties with emerging economies such as India and China as well as with Gulf states.
Jessie J upset by young fan’s death
By IANS,
London: Singer Jessie J has spoken of her sadness after a young fan she performed with lost his fight for life following a battle with a rare blood cancer.
Waiting for the bus that never comes
By Linda Wabel, DPA
Dusseldorf (Germany) : Confused and disoriented, an elderly woman makes her way along the corridor of a nursing home. "I have to get home. My husband will be back from work shortly and I've got to cook his supper," she says.
The two care assistants following her have heard it all before. They know the old woman's husband died years ago and that the home she refers to no longer exists.
Serial quakes rock Indonesia
By Xinhua,
Jakarta : A series of moderate earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.9, 5.8, 5.5 and 5.3 struck Indonesia on Wednesday, with no immediate report of damage or casualty, meteorology and disaster management agencies said here.
At 08:25 Jakarta time (0125 GMT), the 5.8 magnitude quake jolted Gorontalo province in eastern parts of the country, with epicenter at 136 kilometers southwest the province in the South Sulawesi Island and at 15 kilometers in depth, an official of the meteorology agency Anas Fauzi told Xinhua.
Obama’s Indian American info czar back at job
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : President Barack Obama's Indian-American info czar Vivek Kundra, who had taken leave after an FBI raid on his former office, has returned to work after being informed that he is not a "target of investigation."
"Mr. Kundra has been informed that he is neither a subject nor a target of the investigation, and has been reinstated," Assistant White House Press Secretary Nick Shapiro told CNN in an e-mail Tuesday.
Beijing Olympics challenges London, says UK Olympic chief
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Beijing Olympics will pose a challenge to London's preparations for the 2012 Games, British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan said Friday.
Moynihan said Beijing's well-oiled organisational machinery will ensure a "historic" Olympic Games, making the job tougher for the hosts of the next edition of the quadrennial extravaganza.
"It will be a great challenge for London to match what Beijing has given to the Olympic movement. We have to work very hard the day we get back. We only have four years to go," he said.
Amnesty denounces Kashmir village head’s killing
Srinagar : An attack by a suspected armed group on a sarpanch (village head) in Jammu and Kashmir demonstrates disregard for human life,...
UK government under pressure to change Israel policy
By Anasudhin Azeez,
London : British Prime Minister David Cameron is facing mounting pressure to change his Israel policy with his Deputy Nick Clegg and...
US politician caught plagiarising Obama speech
By IANS,
London : A Republican congressional candidate has been accused of plagiarising US President Barack Obama's speech on "the crossroads of history".
Vaughn Ward, a former US Marine Corps officer and CIA operative, was running for the Republican congressional nomination in an election held Tuesday in Idaho.
The Telegraph reported Wednesday that Lucas Baumbach, a local party activist, tracked down a YouTube video that showed a strong similarity between Ward's speech in January and Obama's address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
UNSC condemns attack on UNAMID convoy, warns of punitive action
By KUNA
United Nations : The Security Council late Friday "condemned in the strongest possible terms" the attack earlier this week by "elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces" on a supply convoy of the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
Saudi King assisting stranded Indian workers: Sushma Swaraj
New Delhi : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said the King of Saudi Arabia has given instructions to help the thousands of...
British anti-terror chief says sorry to opposition party
By IANS,
London : The police officer heading Britain's anti-terrorism efforts Monday apologised to the opposition Tory party after accusing it of trying to undermine him by mobilising the press against him.
Bob Quick, assistant commissioner of police in charge of specialist operations and counter-terrorism, apologised "unreservedly" after leading members of the Conservative party said his outburst called his judgement into question.
Death toll from south Brazil floods rises to 65
By RIA Novosti,
Rio De Janeiro : At least 65 people have died and another 44,000 have been left homeless in southern Brazil after more than two months of heavy rains, the country's Civil Defense Service said on Tuesday.
Eight towns in the state of Santa Catarina have been blocked off due to flooded roads. Many of those killed were crushed by landslides, some of them inside their homes, the service said.
Over 50 cm (20 inches) of rain has fallen in the region in the past few days, four times more than the average for this time of year.
US to give $30 mn to upgrade Kyrgyz air control system
By IANS,
Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) : The US Congress has approved a fund of $30 million to help upgrade Kyrgyzstan's air traffic management system, the American embassy here said.
Shock in Israel over attack on Mumbai Jewish centre
By DPA,
Jerusalem : There was still shock in Israel Sunday four days after the attack on Nariman House, a Jewish religious centre in the Indian city Mumbai.
According to Israel radio, three of the nine bodies found in the centre have not been positively identified. The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed that Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who led the ultra-Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch movement in the Indian commercial capital, and his wife Rivka were among the dead.
Nepal king victim of foreign powers: royalist party chief
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Nepal's last king Gyanendra, who will have to surrender his crown, sceptre, throne and palace Wednesday, is the victim of foreign powers and has been betrayed by political parties, says the chief of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, the lone voice championing monarchy in Nepal.
Kamal Thapa, whose Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal suffered a smarting defeat in last month's election for supporting monarchy, seemed to hint southern neighbour India was behind the king's downfall.
Ireland votes in Lisbon Treaty referendum
By IANS,
Dublin : Ireland goes to the polls Thursday in the Lisbon Treaty referendum which will have far-reaching implications for the future of the European Union.
The controversial document, which has already been approved by 17 member states, is due to come into force by January 1, 2009.
Ireland is the only EU country holding a referendum on the treaty because it has to amend its national constitution in order to ratify its provisions.
Pro-treaty groups said today acceptance will streamline EU decision-making and keep Ireland at the centre of influence in Europe.
Former Czech president Vaclav Havel dies
By IANS,
Prague: Former Czech president Vaclav Havel, who was also a playwright, essayist and poet, has died at the age of 75 after a long illness, Xinhua reported Sunday.
Russian president in China condemns US missile shield in Europe
By IRNA,
Beijing : President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia and President Hu Jintao of China met Friday to conclude a deal on nuclear cooperation and together condemn US proposals for a missile shield in Europe.
Both countries called the US plan a setback to international trust that was likely to upset the balance of power.
10 killed in Sri Lanka suicide bombing
By DPA,
Colombo : At least 10 people were killed and more than 20 others, including three ministers, were injured in a suicide bombing near a mosque in southern Sri Lanka, a police spokesman said Tuesday.
The attack took place in Godapitiya in the town of Akurassa in Matara district, 160 km south of Colombo.
Most of the victims were Muslim devotees attending celebrations at the mosque for the Milad-un-Nabi festival, marking the birth of the Prophet Mohammed.
Tibetans urge UN to seek release of filmmaker in China
By IANS,
Dharamsala: The Tibetan government-in-exile, based in this north Indian hill station, Saturday appealed to UN rights chief Navanethem Pillay to facilitate the release of Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen who was arrested in China in March 2008.
"We request you (Pillay) to kindly intervene to provide immediate medical assistance and unconditional release of Dhondup Wangchen, an amateur Tibetan filmmaker. He is seriously ill," the government-in-exile said in a statement posted on its official website.
Heart disease leading cause of deaths in Cuba
By IANS,
Havana: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of deaths in Cuba, claiming over 20,000 lives each year, an expert said here.
New internet security system no longer secure
By IANS,
London : Researchers have cracked the so-called McEliece encryption system, to potentially secure Internet traffic during the age of quantum computing in future.
The attack succeeded last month by means of a large number of linked computers throughout the world, informed Eindhoven University of Technology (EUT) Netherlands professor Tanja Lange.
Kadima party predicted narrow win in Israeli election
By KUNA,
RAMALLAH : The ruling Kadima party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni could score a narrow, upset victory in Tuesday's Israeli elections, three separate exit polls on Israel's television news channels predicted on Tuesday.
Exit polls by Israeli Channel 10 and Israeli state-run Channel one both gave 30 seats to the centrist Kadima and 28 to the hard-line Likud party of former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the latter having led in opinion polls virtually throughout the entire campaign.
US seeks EU sanctions to force Iran back into talks
By IANS,
Washington: The US expects the European Union (EU) to take steps to pressure Iran back into negotiations on its controversial nuclear activity, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Security Council reviews UN presence in Kosovo
By DPA
New York : The UN Security Council met to review its mission in Kosovo while tensions remain high between Serbia and the Albanian-led government in the breakaway province, which has threatened to unilaterally declare independence.
The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has been assisting the Kosovo Albanian government in Pristina in establishing democratic institutions and organising elections in close cooperation with EU groups.
Modi visit won’t hurt Sri Lanka-China ties: Chinese commentary
Beijing : China-Sri Lanka relations will not be affected by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit but only grow stronger, a commentary in the...
France to raise retirement age to cut deficit
By DPA,
Paris : The French government has drawn up a pension reform plan that will raise the age of retirement from 60 to 62 by the year 2018.
In the plan made public Wednesday by Budget Minister Eric Woerth, the retirement age will rise by four months every year beginning July 1, 2011. At the same time, workers will have to retire at age 67 to benefit from full pension payments, instead of the current 65.
The proposal also extends the contribution periods to workers' pension funds and increases by 1 percent the tax on the incomes of France's highest earners.
Senior US official meets Maoist leader in Nepal
By DPA,
Kathmandu : A senior US administration official met Monday with Nepal's Maoist rebels in a sign of a growing thaw in relations between the two sides.
Kathmandu, May 26 (DPA) A senior US administration official met Monday with Nepal's Maoist rebels in a sign of a growing thaw in relations between the two sides.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Evan A. Feigenbaum met Maoist supremo Prachanda, who is expected to head a new government to be formed within days.
Sri Lanka to consider Prabhakaran’s extradition issue ‘positively’
By IANS,
New Delhi : A day before Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon heads to Colombo, Sri Lanka Wednesday said it will look at any Indian request for extradition of LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran "positively".
"The government's stand is that if there is a request, certainly that will have to be looked at very seriously - I would say even positively," Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to India C.R. Jayasinghe told the Times Now news channel.
Suspected gunman arrested in New York for NYPD shooting
New York: Three men have been taken into custody in connection with the shooting of two New York police officers -- including the suspected...
Timor Leste, New Zealand Talk on Security
By Prensa Latina
Dili : New Zealand Defense Minister Phil Goff promised Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao on Tuesday that his country's troops will remain in Timor Leste to contribute to keep security in that island, as he affirmed.
New Zealand has 180 men and women enrolled in its Air and Armed Forces deployed in Eastern Timor Leste where the government has extended state of exception for another month Since Monday.
Australia, Malaysia and Portugar are also included in the troops under the NATO command.
Russia makes concessions to European election monitors
By DPA
Moscow : Russia's election committee Tuesday softened restrictions imposed on Europe's main poll-monitoring body in emergency talks held in Moscow to avert a boycott by observers of the March 2 presidential vote.
The Central Election Committee (CEC) offered to allow the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) vote-monitoring arm five more observers and lengthen its mission - striking a compromise on two of the organization's main complaints.
35 killed as troops break through LTTE defence line: Sri Lanka
By IANS,
Colombo : At least 35 Tamil Tigers were killed when Sri Lankan troops successfully smashed through an earth bund built by the rebels in their last stronghold after days of fierce fighting, the island nation's defence ministry said Saturday.
Amid fierce resistance from the rebels, troops of the army's 58 Division Friday evening "gained total control over the entire earth bund built by the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in Karayamulliavaikkal", the defence ministry said in a statement issued here.
Obama’s inauguration recalls joy of 1994 election: Mandela
By DPA,
Johannesburg : Former South African president Nelson Mandela congratulated Barack Obama on his inauguration as the first black president of the US and said the historic event reminded him of the excitement that surrounded his own election as his country's first democratically-elected president.
Thai Government to Tackle Muslim Insurgency
By Prensa Latina,
Bangkok : The new Thai Government led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is outlining a new policy aimed at tackling Muslim insurgency in the three troubled southernmost provinces near Malaysia.
At a press conference in Bangkok, Vejjajiva announced his first measure will be the creation of an agency to oversee the region.
The new agency will have considerable freedom of action under a special minister to be appointed soon.
Thailand annexed the old Pattani Sultanate in 1902, dividing the Pattani Yala and Narathiwat provinces later on.
China coal mine accident toll reaches 30
By IANS,
Beijing : The toll in a coal mine gas leak accident in southwest China has risen to 30, a media report said Sunday.
Canada’s exports slip lower, but economy creates more jobs
By IANS,
Toronto : Despite Canada's main exports - commodities and oil - slipping lower and North America's third largest stock market here closing the last day of the week on a sluggish note, the economy has created thousands of new jobs in October.
The TSX composite index closed at 9,542.88 points. Compared to Thursday when the index fell 3.36 percent or 331.79 points, the closing day of the week saw a decline of just 12 points.
The day's major losers were the metals sector that fell by 2.3 percent and consumer commodities which slipped 2.1 percent.
Shields angry after journos took her mother out of nursing home
By IANS,
London : Brooke Shields claims that her mother, who suffers from dementia, was checked out of a New Jersey nursing home by a journalist seeking a "tabloid story". The angry actress says she will take lawful action against those who are involved.
People.com reports that the actress claims her mother was targeted by the National Enquirer.
Britain’s first Hindu school gets planning permission
By Prasun Sonwalkar, IANS
London : Britain's first state-funded Hindu school has been granted planning permission by the London borough of Harrow, and the first intake of students is expected to start in September 2008.
Based on Camrose Avenue in Edgware, the 236-place, one-form entry, primary school is at the heart of the highest concentration of Hindus in Britain, with around a third of local residents of the Hindu faith.
British court rules Assange be extradited
By IANS,
London : Britain's Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed an appeal by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange paving the way for his extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes.
Strong magnitude earthquake rattles Taiwan
By DPA,
Taipei : An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale occurred off southeast Taiwan Sunday, but there were no reports of casualties.
The quake struck at 9.57 a.m. with its epicenter 296 km southeast of Taitung on the southeast coast of Taiwan.
The location of sthe earthqake was 46.5 km under the seabed.
Taiwan sits on the earthquake belt and most of the tremors occur off Taiwan's east coast, caused by the friction between the Eurasian and Philippine Plate.
Chinese students protest against Dalai Lama’s US tour
By Xinhua,
Michigan : Hundreds of Chinese Americans and Chinese nationals gathered in US' northeastern state of Michigan to voice their support for the Beijing Olympics and protest against the violence in Tibet which they say was incited by Dalai Lama supporters.
The protest, organised by Chinese students studying at the University of Michigan and the State University of Michigan, was held Sunday outside the Ann Arbor stadium where the Dalai Lama was delivering a speech.
They chanted "One World, One Dream" and "Olympics go".
Australian MP wants caning back in schools
By Neena Bhandari, IANS,
Sydney : A far right parliamentarian from Australia's Queensland state has reignited the debate on sparing the rod and spoiling the child by demanding that caning be re-introduced in schools as the "go-soft approach has failed".
"Schools should have corporal punishment brought back even as a deterrent and in extreme cases it should be used as necessary. We've already looked at the go-soft approach, I don't believe it's working," Queensland's only far right One Nation Party MP Rosa Lee Long told Channel Nine television.
Troops capture last LTTE landmass in Jaffna
By IANS,
Colombo : Stepping up its campaign against the Tamil Tigers, Sri Lankan troops Wednesday captured the last rebel landmass in Jaffna peninsula in the country's northern tip, military sources said.
Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said troops expanding their defences on the eastern flank of the recently captured Elephant Pass and Nagarkovil area "have completely captured Chundikkulam and adjoining areas.
Airport scanner can damage diabetes device
By IANS,,
Washington : Full-body scanners used at airports can damage the insulin pump or continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device used by diabetics, caution experts.
Russian, Ukrainian PMs set to talk oil and aviation, not gas
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Talks on the oil and aviation sectors are on the agenda of Wednesday's meeting between the prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine, a Russian government source has said.
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko are not, however, expected to discuss natural gas deliveries - an issue that hit the headlines last week when Russia threatened to turn off gas supplies to its neighbor over unpaid debts.
Boko Haram militants kill dozens in Nigeria
Abuja : Militants have killed dozens of people in fresh attacks in Nigeria, BBC reported Wednesday.
The Boko Haram militants attacked villages in Borno state...
At Canada hearing, banned Sikh group leader denies violence
Toronto : A British Sikh man, who is facing deportation from Canada, admitted at an immigration hearing here that he was once part of...
Brazilian economist new chief of UN food agency
By IANS,
Rome : Former Brazilian food security minister Jose Graziano da Silva was elected Sunday as the new director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Xinhua reported.