International

By Prasun Sonwalkar, IANS London : Surinder Arora, who arrived in the UK from India in 1972 woefully short of money, went on to become a property developer and is now building a new hotel that will link directly to Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport. The hotel, called Sofitel London Heathrow, will cost 180 million pounds and will feature a bridge connecting one of its five steel-and-glass atriums to the terminal building, which is due to open in March next year.

United Nations: The UN Security Council (UNSC) Saturday welcomed the release of two Algerian diplomats abducted in northern Mali more than two years ago. In...

By IANS, New Delhi: The drizzle stopped and the sun came out as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived at an agricultural research institute Sunday to watch some paddy sowing and speak on Indo-US farm cooperation - from under the shade of a mulberry tree. "Look at the co-incidence - Hillary under a mulberry," quipped a senior scientist at the National Agricultural Science Centre (NASC) on Pusa Road, watching Clinton standing along with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar under the dense shade of a dark green mulberry tree at the institute campus.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By IANS/EFE, Mexico City : Mexico's economy could grow between 4 percent and 5 percent this year, said President Felipe Calderon. "All the forecasts agree that Mexico's economic growth this year will be at least 4 percent. And some are already projecting growth of 5 percent," the president said Sunday. Mexico's economy contracted by 6.5 percent in 2009, marking the biggest drop in economic output since the Great Depression, when it contracted 14.8 percent in 1932.

By IANS,

By DPA, New York : UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on both Russia and Georgia to rein in their armed forces following reports of looting, continued fighting and lack of access to those in need in the Caucasan country. Ban said Thursday that he had become "extremely concerned by the humanitarian impact of the recent conflict on the civilian population in Georgia, which has suffered loss of life and injury, significant damage to property and infrastructure."

By IANS, Brussels: A NATO warship rescued an Iranian-flagged vessel over the weekend just days after the vessel was freed from pirates by another NATO ship, the military alliance stated.

By IANS, London: Late Beatle legend John Lenon will be honoured in his native Liverpool by bell ringers who will perform his peace anthem "Imagine" in the city's cathedral. Contactmusic.com reprots that church officials have given the go ahead for the performance despite the track featuring the controversial line, "Imagine there's no heaven".

By Xinhua, Rio de Janeiro : Brazil's economic prospects in 2009 remain positive despite the ongoing global financial crisis, says a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). According to the OECD study released Monday, Brazil is among the few nations in the world that will not register a economic slump in the next six months. Brazil is the only nation among 34 analyzed by the study whose Advanced Composed Index, a measurement of a country's economic activity levels, remains higher than 100 points.

By IANS, Bali: Eleven tropical rainforest countries Tuesday agreed to commit on sustainable forest management at a ministerial meeting held in Indonesia's Bali province, Xinhua reported. The tropical rainforests are home to diverse biological species and storehouses of genetic resources. They also serve as sources of livelihood and a repository of cultural heritage, the group, also known as F-11, said in a joint press statement. Looking forward to 2010, the ministers emphasised that the forthcoming global climate talks must include the issue of forest as an integral component.

By IANS, Washington : Armies develop teamwork by marching to the same drum beat, just as citizens sing the national anthem before sporting events. A new study suggests that when people engage in synchronised activity, they are more likely to cooperate with other group members. Stanford University psychologists Scott S. Wiltermuth and Chip Heath conducted a series of experiments to see how synchronous movement affects group interactions.

By Xinhua

Washington : The US has urged leaders of rebel groups involved in the Darfur conflict in Sudan to attend without preconditions peace talks scheduled to be held in Arusha, Tanzania.

"The United States urges all invited participants to attend the Arusha conference without preconditions, and calls on the rebel participants to include field commanders in their delegations," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday.

By Xinhua, Seoul : A South Korean government agency said that packages of U.S. beef have cleared quarantine inspections for the first time since October 2007, Yonhap reported Monday. The National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) said it has checked and cleared six separate shipments of frozen U.S. beef totaling 85.6 tons, and is in the process of examining another shipment, Yonhap reported.

By IANS, London: Dancer Francine Cornell, who had an affair with singer Ronan Keating, says she was shocked when the latter's model wife Yvonne Connolly called and confronted things with her.

By IANS, Tokyo : Japan Friday raised from level four to five on an international scale the measure of the nuclear accident at its earthquake-ravaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

By DPA, New York : UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he would provide "all possible efforts" to make the Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons. Ban's remarks were in reaction to North Korea's proposal to negotiate a peace treaty with the US to replace the ceasefire agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea also said it would return to the six-party talks if UN sanctions were lifted. The talks, which involved China, the US, Russia, Japan, and North and South Korea, were deadlocked by Pyongyang's refusal to end its nuclear programmes.

By TwoCircles.net staff reporter, Boston: For the last few years, India and the US are coming closer but still not much is known in the US about Indian minorities and their status. Dr. Omar Khalidi, author of “Muslims in Indian Economy” talked about the condition of Indian Muslims in a program organized by the Indian Muslim Council-USA (IMC-USA) in Boston, Massachusetts.

Johannesburg: Floods caused by heavy rains which affected most parts of South Africa left 32 dead and about 3, 000 displaced, authorities said Monday. "Regrettably,...

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would like to write a book but is too busy for that right now.

By IANS, Khartoum : Thousands of protesters stormed the embassies of Germany and Britain here in the Sudanese capital Friday in protest against an anti-Islam film, Xinhua reported.

By DPA, Ankara : Two environmental activists were deported from Turkey Tuesday for protesting at the opening of the World Water Forum in Istanbul Monday, a spokesman for a group in which they are members said. Ann-Kathrin Schneider of Germany and Payal Parekh of the US - both members of the non-governmental organization International Rivers' - were taken into custody Monday morning after unfurling a banner reading "No risky Dams" and shouting slogans just as the week-long water forum was about to start.

By DPA, Athens : Six Greek police officers were wounded, two seriously, after gunmen opened fire on a police station late Tuesday in the suburbs of the Greek capital, reports said. Four hooded gunmen opened fire with rifles on the Agios Pareskevis police station, injuring six police officers, two of whom were in serious condition. Reports said the gunmen fired at least 20 rounds at the police station and fled on two motorcycles. One of the motorcycles was discovered a short distance from the scene of the attack, reports said.

By RIA Novosti, Moscow : Police have seized 15 kg of heroin from two drug couriers in the Istra district to the west of Moscow, a police spokesman said on Monday. Traffic police and officers of the federal anti-drugs service detained a woman on Sunday who was riding as a passenger in a car on the Volokolamsk highway. A second woman was detained while leaving the Moscow Region town of Dedovsk, the spokesman said.

By DPA,

By Xinhua, Kathmandu : Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Tuesday underscored the need to form the next government based on national consensus. Koirala, who is also the president of the Nepali Congress (NC), directed some of his party central leaders to take initiatives to form a national unity government. Koirala called his party leaders to his official residence in Kathmandu and directed to continue discussions with other parties to forge a consensus.

By IANS,

London: A female Islamic State (IS) recruiter dubbed "Mrs Terror" is reported to have returned to Britain, a media report said on Friday. Special Branch...

By DPA, Brussels : The lower house of the Belgian parliament approved a draft law Thursday banning the wearing of burqa in public and other types of Islamic veils, the Belga news agency reported. However, the law criminalising Muslim women who hide their faces in public is unlikely to enter into force soon, as it still has to be approved by the upper house of parliament, the Senate. Progress of the bill would also be wiped out if the political crisis gripping the country would lead to parliament being dissolved - an inevitable option, according to all political commentators.

By DPA, London : A combination of diplomacy and pressure could still stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, although "the clock is ticking", US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in London Tuesday. "We have not lost the opportunity to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons," Gates said at a news conference after talks with Liam Fox, his counterpart in the new Conservative-led British government. Gates said he hoped to see a new UN resolution on further sanctions against Iran passed soon, which would provide other nations with the legal basis to take additional measures.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS Kathmandu : The paralysis gripping Nepal's fragile peace process for nearly three months could be easing with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala finally agreeing to abolish the kingdom's two century old institution of monarchy and declare Nepal a republic, according to the Maoists.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By DPA, Colombo : A Tamil journalist serving a 20-year prison term in Sri Lanka on a conviction of inciting communal disharmony was released on bail Monday pending his appeal, court officials said. J.S. Tissainayagam, in custody since March 7, 2008, was released on bail of 50,000 rupees (about $440), but ordered to surrender his passport and remain in the country. He was convicted Aug 31 last year on several counts related to editing the defunct North Eastern Monthly magazine between 2006 and 2007.

By Murali Krishnan,IANS, Beijing : Underscoring the immediate task before countries hit by the financial tsunami, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said economies the world over should de-clog their credit markets and also suggested that it was time to actively deliberate on a global regulatory body.

By IANS Kathmandu : Former US president Jimmy Carter, who had urged his government to establish communications with Nepal's Maoist guerrillas though they are still on Washington's watch list of terror organisations, has expressed doubts about the rebels' intentions towards the election. Carter, who arrived in Kathmandu Wednesday on his second peace mission to Nepal, met Maoist supremo Prachanda to ask him if the rebels intended to take part in the constituent assembly election that will for the first time give citizens the right to write their own constitution.

By Xinhua Kunming : For Yang Gancai and his wife Wang Yi, seven years of efforts to chronicle the "disappearing worlds" of Chinese ethnic minorities in a remote village on the country's border with Myanmar bring more than an award-winning documentary.

By Arun Kumar, IANS, Washington : No passengers of Indian origin appeared to be on the doomed Continental Flight 3407 that crashed into a house near Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 aboard and one man on the ground in a hellish fireball. A partial list of victims of Thursday night's crash released by Continental Airlines includes John G. Roberts III, a Lewiston native who lived in India, returning home for an overdue visit with family members. The full list will be released only after victims' families have been informed.

Berlin: Germany's coalition government has agreed to spend 6 billion euros (about $6.6 billion) to support record numbers of migrants and other measures to...

Nairobi : Kenya's opposition lawmakers disrupted parliamentary proceedings Thursday as a debate for a new anti-terror law kicked off in a special sitting in...

By IANS, Kunming (China): A once-in-a-century drought in southwestern China has resulted in a shortage of drinking water for millions of people and livestock, the Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday. The Yunnan provincial climate centre said the drought, which started in September, was the worst in any living person's memory. "The average precipitation was down by 60 percent, and the drought will persist until mid May," said Zhu Yong, head of the center.

By DPA, Colombo : At least 17 Tamil rebels have been killed by government troops in three separate incidents in northern Sri Lanka as fighting between the two sides continued, military officials said Tuesday. The fighting was reported from the Mannar, Vavuniya and Welioya areas, some 260 km north of the capital Monday, officials said. Nine rebels were killed and eight wounded in a clash in Welioya where a soldier was also injured, while four each were killed in Mannar and Vavuniya, the army said.

By KUNA London : Former US President Bill Clinton will visit Northern Ireland to mark the 10th anniversary of the Ulster peace agreement, it was confirmed Wednesday. Clinton will be joined by Senator George Mitchell, who played a crucial role in brokering the 1998 accord, at a special event in Belfast in April, Northern Ireland officials said. Northern Ireland's First Minister Ian Paisley has not yet indicated whether he will attend the US-Ireland Alliance commemoration at Queen's University, in Belfast.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By DPA Brussels : Hundreds of Tibetans Tuesday called on the European Union (EU) to investigate allegations of Chinese repression in their country during a protest held outside the bloc's headquarters in Brussels. "We want the EU to help us by sending an investigation team (to Tibet) to verify the facts," said Songtse, a Belgium-based Tibetan. The protesters chanted the Tibetan national anthem and prayed for their slain compatriots amid fears that many more might soon be killed by the Chinese authorities.

By NNN-PTI, Kathmandu : Maoist chief Prachanda was on Friday elected as the first Prime Minister in post-monarchy Nepal as he swept a Constituent Assembly vote trouncing his Nepali Congress rival, four months after leading the former rebels to a surprise victory in the polls.

By DPA, Washington : Veteran Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy was taken to hospital Saturday amid symptoms of a possible stroke, the television news network CNN reported. CNN quoted sources as saying that the Massachusetts senator, 76, had shown "stroke-like symptoms". According to a report by the Cape Cod Times, Kennedy was rushed by ambulance from the family compound in Hyannisport to Cape Cod Hospital after falling ill.

By IANS Toronto : Is sexual orientation something people are born with or a matter of choice? In findings that are bound to re-ignite the debate, a new study weighs in on the side of genetics. Researchers at McMaster University and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre here have found new evidence that shows that your genes are what make you straight or gay. Led by neuroscientist Sandra Witelson, the study scanned the brains of healthy, right-handed homosexual and heterosexual men using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

By Xinhua, Colombo : Sri Lanka's public have lodged 1,246 complaints against the conduct of the police, the Police Commission said Tuesday. R. P. Wickramasinghe, a spokesman from the Police Commission, told reporters that the complaints were lodged from January to November this year. Wickramasinghe said investigations are being conducted based on14 different categories of complaints. He said 401 of the complaints had been lodged against alleged police inaction while 513 complaints had been fully investigated.

By RIA Novosti, London : Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday world leaders should set up a new Bretton Woods system to tackle the global financial crisis. "Sometimes it takes a crisis for people to agree that what is obvious and should have been done years ago can no longer be postponed. We must create a new international financial architecture for the global age," Brown said.

By RIA Novosti Yerevan : Armenia's Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan won Tuesday's presidential elections, securing 53 percent of total votes polled, the central election commission said Wednesday. According to Central Election Commissioner Garegin Azaryan, Sarkisyan got 52.86 percent of votes with about 99 percent of ballots counted so far. A candidate has to cross the threshold of 50 percent of total polled votes to hold the highest office of the country.

By DPA, New York : The UN Security Council decided Monday to keep its large peacekeeping operation another year in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the main task of protecting civilians and improving security in the eastern part of the country. The UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) is composed of more than 22,000 personnel, including 19,815 military troops, one of the largest UN peacekeeping forces in the world. But MONUC is still dwarfed by the geographical size of Congo and the conflicts there. Its new mandate expires Dec 31, 2009.

By DPA, Sydney : Sydney is plotting a marketing coup in hopes of stealing the Australian Open away from its longtime Melbourne home by making a more attractive offer to international tennis authorities. Local press reports indicate that the New South Wales capital is keen to lift the Grand Slam grand prize off of it's hated Victorian rival when Melbourne's contract with the sanctioning International Tennis Federation (ITF) expires in 2016. But the bid could well fall short, as did a recent attempt to grab the Formula One Grand Prix, which remains in Melbourne.

By DPA, Manila : A powerful typhoon battered the Philippines Sunday, killing at least 103 people, with more than 800 still missing in a ferry sinking and hundreds of thousands displaced due to floods and landslides, officials said. Fifty-nine people were killed in the central province of Iloilo, 560 km south of Manila, where several towns were inundated in flood waters when Typhoon Fengshen first slammed the area Saturday.

By IANS, Beijing: Chinese forces Thursday battled rain while continuing a five-day military exercise featuring drills that include the relocation of air defence positions and command posts. More than 12,000 Chinese military personnel, along with seven types of military aircraft, divided into Red and Blue rivals, took part in exercise Vanguard-2010 which started Tuesday in seven cities across Henan and Shandong provinces, Xinhua reported.

By IINA, Jakarta : Muslims in Indonesia are now banned from practicing yoga that contains Hindu rituals like chanting, but will continue to be allowed to perform it for purely health reasons, the chairman of the country's top Islamic body said today. Ma'ruf Amin said the Ulema Council issued the non-binding ruling following weekend talks attended by hundreds of theological experts in Padang Panjang, a village in West Sumatra province. Although the ruling is not legally binding, most devout Muslims are likely to adhere to it — as they consider it sinful to ignore a fatwa.

By DPA, Zamboanga City (The Philippines) : Islamic militants released two television journalists and a Muslim professor unhurt after holding them captive for nine days on a southern Philippine island, officials said Wednesday. ABS-CBN senior correspondent Ces Drilon, cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and professor Octavio Dinampo were released late Tuesday in a remote village in Talipao town on Jolo Island, 1,000 km south of Manila. Director General Avelino Razon, national police chief, said the three hostages were in good health, although they were visibly tired and lacked sleep.

By IANS/EFE, Caracas : Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated 11 years in power on his 55th birthday and hopes to continue as head of state for another similar term. "I like that number 11. And the next 11 (years) I promise to take care of myself a little more, and if you want, I'll be 66 (years old then) and god willing 22 (years) as president," he said on the occasion of his 55th birthday Tuesday.

By IANS, Tokyo: World finance ministers Saturday warned that downside risks to global growth remain and called for for quick and effective action to rebuild shaken confidence.

By RIA Novosti, Makhachkala : A militant leader was killed in a special operation in Daghestan in southern Russia, the local security service said on Sunday. Ismail Yangizbiyev was on the federal wanted list for committing several acts of terrorism against police. The militant was found and destroyed in the Khasavyurt district in western Daghestan early on Sunday, the security service said. There have been no casualties among the federal troops, the security service said.

By IANS, Beijing : China is looking to develop a 33-tonne heavy-lift helicopter with Russian help.

By IANS, London : One person was killed and three others were injured Monday in an explosion at a French nuclear plant, BBC reported.

By IANS, New Delhi : Even as a crucial reprocessing pact is being finalised, the US Friday said it hoped to complete the landmark nuclear agreement with India soon and described the atomic pact as a "strategic win-win for both countries". Welcoming the visit of a high-profile delegation of top US nuclear companies to India, US Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer said it underscored the commitment US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made in Washington for the two countries to "realise the full potential and aspirations of landmark civilian nuclear agreement".

By IANS, Ottawa : Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced 82 million Canadian dollars in funding for 55 new clean-energy projects, ranging from electric vehicles to wind power.

By P. Karunakharan, IANS, Colombo : Striking another blow against the Tamil Tigers, advancing Sri Lankan troops Saturday captured a rebel airstrip in the jungle district of Mullaitivu, a day after dislodging the LTTE from the Jaffna-Kandy main highway in the north, military officials said. Claiming that this was the fourth Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) airstrip to be captured by the troops in the recent past, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the troops captured the area lying 10 km west of Mullaitivu town.

By Xinhua, Beijing : A consultation between China and Russia on strategic stability was held here on Friday, according to the Foreign Ministry. The two nations exchanged views on the current international security situation, non-proliferation, hot regional issues and multilateral arms control, a press release from the ministry said. The two nations agreed, according to the press release, that it is of vital importance for world peace and security to safeguard global strategic stability, boost mutual trust among nations and resolve international disputes by peaceful means.

By IANS,

By Prensa Latina, Seoul : The PDR of Korea denounced the South Korean newly elected government has been rising pro-US support to the detriment of reunification with North Korea. Communist party daily, Rodong Sinmun, calls President Lee Myung Bak and his group traitors for they talk cooperation to try and calm disgust in Pyongyang. The PDR of Korea will not talk or negotiate with a group that does not respect our nation and refuses to observe the joint statements of Jun 15, 2000 and Oct 4, 2007.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS, Kathmandu : Before making his final exit from the royal palace and beginning life as a commoner in an inferior summer palace in the suburbs, Nepal's last king Gyanendra began bidding adieu to his former ministers and advisors, expressing his gratitude for their support.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS Kathmandu : Certain to face a tough challenge to his leadership in the winter session of parliament, embattled Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala obtained a reprieve Monday with the house adjourning for 10 days.

By Javier Solana, IANS, Europe's long-standing relationship with Southeast Asia is shifting into a new gear this year. Our mutual engagement is growing still closer and deeper, particularly in the area of building peace, security and cooperation around the globe. We have reached a milestone in our relations this year with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh in May on the accession of the European Union and its member states to the ASEAN Treaty on Amity and Cooperation.

By IANS, Qinghai (China) : The toll in a devastating earthquake in northwest China has risen to 1,484 Saturday, Xinhua reported. Some 300 people were still missing since Wednesday's 7.1 magnitude quake in Qinghai province. The epicentre was in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu. About 12,000 people were injured, some 1,300 seriously, in the quake, a spokesman for the rescue headquarters said.

By DPA, Washington: The US formally apologised to Guatemala Friday for intentionally infecting hundreds of people with sexually transmitted diseases during medical experiments decades ago.

By IANS Villahermosa (Mexico) : Scores of houses were washed away and hundreds of residents rendered homeless in chilling cold as snow storms and heavy rain caused the Teapa River in the southern state of Tabasco to burst its banks, officials have said. "We have reports of flooding at a point called Kilometre 41, where the river flowed over the asphalt surface," Rurico Dominguez, Tabasco state emergency services chief, was quoted as saying, Spain's EFE news agency reported Friday.

By RIA Novosti Moscow : Russia's anti-monopoly watchdog said on Wednesday it had filed two lawsuits against Austria's Raiffeisenbank and nine Russian insurance companies for breaches of laws on competition protection. "Signs of breaches of anti-monopoly legislation are seen in the actions by the bank and the insurers, which concluded agreements that led or may lead to competition restriction on the insurance market, including actions to set or maintain prices (tariffs)," the anti-monopoly service said. The regulator said the suits were filed on December 29, 2007.

By SPA, Washington : U.S. President George W. Bush signed protocols at a White House ceremony in Washington Friday that would allow Albania and Croatia to join NATO. Bush was joined by Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, secretary-general for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Voice of America reported. "We are now one major step nearer to welcoming into the alliance Albania and Croatia, two more countries who have demonstrated, by word and by deed, that they are willing and able to shoulder the responsibilities of NATO membership, " Bush said.

By A. Vinod Kumar, IANS,

By IANS, Beijing : Seven workers died in China's Shanxi province when a gas explosion occurred in a coal mine, authorities said Monday.

By Prensa Latina Moscow : Russia gives great importance to the Munich Forum, a platform to demolish the US-NATO monopoly in its vision for a collective system of global security, affirmed on Saturday a parliamentarian source. The Russian delegation at the 44th International Conference will defend the principles formulated by President Vladimir Putin at the recent Council of State, emphasized the chief of the Duma Committee for international affairs Kontatin Kosachev.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By DPA, Mexico City : Southern Mexico was roiled Monday evening by an earthquake registering a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter scale, the country's national seismological service said. There were no immediate reports of damage. The epicentre was off the coast of the state of Oaxaca. In Mexico City, high-rise buildings were evacuated, though the quake was not widely felt in the capital.

By Xinhua, Bangkok : Anti-government protesters stormed into a state-run TV channel and forced it to halt broadcasting Tuesday, while a mass rally was assembling here to mount pressure on the Thai government to resign. Hundreds of members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a coalition of opposition parties, broke into the National Broadcasting Services (NBT) office in Bangkok and forced it to shut down for a few hours, the broadcaster said. Extra police personnel were called in and some 30 protesters were detained before the channel resumed broadcasting.

By IANS,

By IANS,

By IANS, Washington: President Barack Obama has named India-born Harvard geneticist Raju Kucherlapati, whose research focuses on gene mapping, gene modification and cloning disease genes, to a key White House panel on bioethics. Kucherlapati, 67, who is the Director Emeritus and Paul C. Cabot Professor in the Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics, is among ten scholars named to the newly created Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.

By RIA Novosti, Moscow : The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that a decision by the US to freeze a civil nuclear agreement with Russia was a politically motivated mistake. US President George Bush withdrew the deal from US Congress amid international condemnation of Russia's actions in the recent Georgian crisis. "We view the steps made by the US administration as a straightforward breach of its commitments, which harms our partnership relations and closes the route to mutually beneficial cooperation on many issues in the sphere of civilian nuclear power," the statement said.

By Gurmukh Singh,IANS, Toronto : Canadian markets, which are the world leader in oil and gas with over 400 top global companies registered, ended their worst week in five years Friday with the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) composite index slipping 531.55 or 6.5 percent.

By RIA Novosti

Moscow : A methane explosion in a coal mine in western Siberia Thursday morning killed 35 miners while three miners are still missing, a Russian emergencies ministry spokesperson said.