Dam burst kills 50 in Indonesia
By DPA,
Jakarta : At least 50 people were killed and many were missing Friday after a dam broke near the Indonesian capital Jakarta, officials said.
The Situ Gintung dam in Tangerang district, 50 km south of the capital Jakarta, collapsed at about 2 a.m. (1900 GMT Thursday), sending water crashing into a crowded residential area, officials said.
Hundreds of homes were submerged and many swept away.
Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Health Ministry's crisis centre, said the death toll had risen to 50 after rescuers found more bodies.
ICRC suspends work in LTTE zone’s entry/exit point
By IANS,
Colombo : The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has temporarily suspended operations at the main entry/exit point in Sri Lanka's rebel-held north, seeking security guarantee for civilian movement from both the military and the Tamil Tigers.
According to official sources, the ICRC, which has been facilitating civilian movement to and from the territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has withdrawn its staff since Wednesday from the entry/exit point at Omanthai on the Jaffna-Kandy road.
Teacher throws sandal at Colombian presidential candidate
By IANS/EFE,
Bogota : A Colombian teacher threw a sandal at former agriculture minister and a presidential candidate Andres Felipe Arias during a public event at a theatre in the northern Colombian city of Barranquilla.
The "aggressor", whom Arias pardoned with a kiss, was identified as Leyda Delgado. She belongs to the leftist opposition Alternative Democratic Pole party.
The sandal was thrown at a time when Arias was preparing to speak at the forum being held at Barranquilla's Amira de la Rosa Theater.
Six killed in Peru plane crash
By IANS/EFE,
Lima : Six people were killed when their small plane crashed while flying over southern Peru, authorities said.
The Cessna 206 plane went down Thursday just 17 minutes after it took off from Pisco airport, an air traffic control official told EFE.
The cause of the accident was yet to be ascertained.
Abducted Italian journalists freed in Syria
By IANS,
Rome: The Italian foreign ministry said four journalists from the country who were kidnapped and taken hostage in Syria earlier this month have been released, Xinhua reported Saturday.
Chinese hospitals banned from carrying out organ transplants for foreigners without permission
By Xinhua
Beijing : Chinese medical institutes are banned from carrying out human organ transplants for foreigners without permission from health authorities, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Ministry of Health.
Mainland hospitals will also have to report to provincial health authorities before offering Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan patients organ transplants and the request will be submitted to the Ministry of Health, said the statement.
Xi meets Sushma, upbeat about growth of India-China ties
Beijing : Chinese President Xi Jinping Monday met India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here, and expressed confidence in the growth of bilateral relations...
Dutch cameraman killed by Russian cluster bomb: Report
By DPA,
Amsterdam : International rights organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) told media Friday it has evidence RTL television cameraman Stan Storimans was killed by Russian cluster bombs, despite an international ban on such bombs.
Storimans was killed in the Georgian city of Gori while covering the conflict over South Ossetia between Georgia and Russia.
Two other journalists, Dutch Jeroen Akkermans and Israeli Zadok Yehezkeli, sustained injuries in the same incident.
US imposes curfew on troops in southern Japan
By KUNA
Tokyo : The US military imposed a curfew Wednesday on its troops in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa following a series of incidents involving US servicemen, including an alleged rape of a 14-year-old local girl on Febbruary 11 that sparked tension.
The curfew, which took effect at 7:30 a.m. (2230 GMT Tuesday) without specifying an end date, applies to all Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps personnel as well as their families and non-military staff, the US military said in a statement.
13 policemen killed in Turkey bomb attack
Ankara: At least 13 policemen were killed on Tuesday after a police bus was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Turkey's Igdir...
Oil-eating bacteria cleaning China oil spill
By IANS,
Beijing : Over 23 tonnes of oil-eating bacteria are being used to clean up an oil spill off the coast of northeast China's Dalian City, four days after pipelines exploded near one of China's largest oil reserve bases.
"We received orders Saturday morning from the Maritime Safety Administration for bio-oil-absorbing products," said Yang Jiesen, manager of the research and development centre at Beijing Weiyeyuan Bio-Technology Company.
According to Xinhua, this is the first time China has made major use of bio-technology to solve an environment pollution problem.
Russian trade union seeks return of sailors stranded in Vietnam
By RIA Novosti,
Vladivostok (Russia) : The Russian Seamen's Trade Union has requested international assistance for the repatriation of around 60 Russian sailors who were "abandoned" in Vietnam by ship owners.
The Russian Seamen's Trade Union received an appeal from the crews of six fishing vessels deserted by their Russian owners near the Vietnamese port of Ho Chi Minh. The sailors have not been paid wages for several months.
Sri Lanka attempts to weaken funding networks of LTTE
Colombo : The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday said it was in the process of strengthening diplomatic ties with countries that have worked with...
Ukraine president offers temporary autonomy to rebel-held areas
Kiev : Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has proposed granting temporary autonomy to some rebel-held areas in the eastern part of the country.
The autonomy would...
Tollgate Pile-up Leaves Four Dead, Seven Injured In Northwest China
By Bernama,
Lanzhou : Four people died and seven were injured in a pile-up in front of a highway tollgate late on Monday in northwest China's Gansu Province, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
The accident took place at 7 p.m. at the tollgate of national highway 312 inside Yongdeng, a suburban county of Lanzhou, the provincial capital, said a traffic police official.
The accident occurred when about 12 vehicles were stopped in front of the tollgate.
Mugabe threatens to expel US envoy
By DPA,
Harare : Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe Sunday urged his supporters to be prepared to "fight or even die" to uphold the country's sovereignty and threatened to expel the US ambassador for supporting opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mugabe, 84, was speaking in Harare at the launch of his campaign to extend his 28-year rule in a presidential election run-off against Tsvangirai next month.
Mugabe said he would not hesitate to expel US ambassador James McGee if he continued to support Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Rescuers find 255 survivors in Indonesian ferry boat disaster
By NNN-Antara,
Tanjungpinang (Riau,Indonesia) : Rescuers have found a total of 255 survivors up to Monday after the "Dumai Express 10" ferry boat sank off Tokong Hiu, Karimun district, Riau Islands province, on Sunday morning.
Tanjung Balai Karimun Naval Base Commander Lt Col Edwin said here the number of survivors rose to 255 on Monday, from 254 on Sunday evening.
"Today we found another survivor at around 12.30 am WIB (Western Indonesian Standard Time)," Edwin, field coordinator of a joint search and rescue team, said.
New Russian spacecraft reusable for up to five flights
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: Russia's new reusable spacecraft being developed by the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation will be able to make up to five space flights, the rocket maker said.
New NASA mission to reveal moon’s evolution
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA will launch a new mission that will peer deep inside the moon to reveal its anatomy and history, announced Alan Stern, the agency's Associate Administrator for Science, in a press release on Tuesday.
The name of the new moon mission is "Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory," or GRAIL. It will cost 375 million U.S. dollars and is scheduled to launch in 2011, according to the announcement.
Washington : NASA will launch a new mission that will peer deep inside the moon to reveal its anatomy and history, announced Alan Stern, the agency's Associate Administrator for Science, in a press release on Tuesday.
The name of the new moon mission is "Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory," or GRAIL. It will cost 375 million U.S. dollars and is scheduled to launch in 2011, according to the announcement.
Small plane crashes in Alaska, killing at least 6
By SPA
Anchorage, Alaska : A small plane crashed in waters off Kodiak island in southern Alaska, killing at least six of the 10 people on board, authorities said.
The Piper Navajo Chieftain crashed soon after take off Saturday afternoon in shallow waters, according to the Coast Guard.
A private float plane from a fish processing company pulled four people from the wreckage. Another person managed to swim to shore, said State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters.
Obama’s star power fading as healthcare tempers flare
By Chris Cermak, DPA,
Washington : The prospects for President Barack Obama's signature domestic issue, overhauling a costly US healthcare system, have taken a dangerous and nasty turn this month.
Lawmakers are spending August outside of Washington, criss-crossing their home states and districts. The spectacle of senators being shouted down by angry opponents at townhall meetings has become regular fodder for television news channels.
Prachanda poised to be Nepal’s 1st Maoist PM
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Four months after their stunning victory in a national election, Nepal's former Maoist guerrillas are now poised to rule the former Himalayan kingdom in place of the Shah kings with their supremo Prachanda poised to sweep Friday's prime ministerial poll.
The 54-year-old, who won the April election from two constituencies, is now expected to win the prime ministerial election overwhelmingly with two of the four largest parties in the interim parliament pledging to support him.
Sharon Osbourne had a crush on Barlow
By IANS,
London: Reality TV star Sharon Osbourne says she once had a crush on singer Gary Barlow.
18,500 bottles of fake vodka destroyed in China
By IANS,
Beijing : More than 18,500 bottles of counterfeit vodka were destroyed Monday after customs officers seized the goods before they entered China's northern city of Tianjin.
47 Croatian school kids injured in accident
By IANS,
Belgrade : At least 47 elementary school children were critically injured when their bus skidded off the highway near Karlovac in Croatia, media reports said.
Hospital officials at Karlovac general hospital said four of the injured, including a teacher were critically injured and most of them were in a state of shock, Xinhua reported Thursday citing a statement from Croatian news agency Hina.
The students from Velika Gorica town, south of the Croatian capital of Zagreb, were heading toward the Adriatic coast on a school excursion.
1800 B.C. artefacts found in Syria
By IANS,
Damascus : Over 3,000 artefacts and 21 graves dating back to the Bronze Age (1,800-1,700 B.C.) have been discovered in Syria, media reports said.
Artefacts from the Roman era (510 B.C.-476 A.D.) were also found Saturday by researchers of the Damascus University, who worked in cooperation with the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums in Daraa governorate, 101 km from Damascus, Xinhua reported citing a statement published Sunday in Syrian daily Al-Watan.
Beijing Olympics against backdrop of politics and pollution
By John Bagratuni, IANS,
Hamburg (Germany) : Michael Phelps and Liu Xiang hope to grace superb venues with sports heroics at the Beijing Olympics against a backdrop of politics and pollution.
The first games in the world's most populous country has politics written all over it as concerns around China's human rights record reached new heights after its dealing with the unrest in Tibet.
An earthquake in the Sichuan province, Beijing's notorious pollution and algae at the sailing venue also made headlines instead of sport in the final countdown to the Aug 8-24 Games.
International rights bodies urge the Indian govt to release G.N. Saibaba on humanitarian grounds
G.N. Saibaba, a wheelchair-bound academic, is an active campaigner for the rights of oppressed communities, including Dalit and Indigenous communities. He was arrested in...
36 Asian migrants rescued from slavery in Costa Rica
By IANS/EFE,
San Jose : Costa Rican authorities rescued 36 Asians who were apparently being used as slaves on two fishing boats and arrested four people on charges of human trafficking.
Police told the media that the group of 15 Vietnamese, 13 Indonesians, five Filipinos, two Taiwanese and one Chinese were exploited, received little to eat, lived in overcrowded conditions, had their passports taken away and were lashed with whips.
"They were held in extremely unhealthy conditions, crammed together and worked up to 20 hours a day," police director Jorge Rojas said in a statement.
Floods in western Africa claim 377 lives: UN
By DPA,
Geneva : Flooding in western Africa has killed at least 377 people and affected over 1.5 million in recent weeks, UN aid agencies said Friday.
Sri Lanka opposition protests court martial of former army chief
By DPA,
Colombo : Opposition parties staged a protest inside Sri Lanka's parliament against the court martial of former army commander Sarath Fonseka, who defeated separatist Tamil rebels last year.
Parliament met for the first time since a three-member tribunal of military officers ruled Friday to dishonourably discharge Fonseka.
"Shame, shame," and "War hero sentenced as terrorists get pardoned," were among the slogans chanted by the United National Party and Democratic National Alliance legislators.
EU threatens Mugabe with new sanctions
By DPA,
Luxembourg : The European Union (EU) Monday threatened to impose new sanctions on Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his allies unless a power-sharing deal with pro-democracy leader Morgan Tsvangirai is promptly implemented.
EU foreign ministers issued the warning during a meeting in Luxembourg.
"The Council stands ready to consider additional measures in case of continued deadlock in the implementation of the Sep 15 agreement," ministers said in a joint statement.
China to spend $158 bn in agriculture, rural development
By IANS,
Beijing : China's spending on agriculture and rural development projects will exceed more than one trillion yuan (about $158 billion) in the current fiscal year, a minister said.
Mexican massacre policemen go missing
By DPA,
Mexico City : The aftermath of the migrant massacre in northern Mexico continued to unfold Friday as two police officials went missing and the family of the sole survivor received police protection in Ecuador.
A police officer and a special investigator working on the massacre of 72 migrants were missing, the Attorney General's Office of the state of Tamaulipas said. There were unconfirmed reports in the Mexican daily La Jornada that two decapitated bodies had been found that appeared to belong to the two men.
Biggest ozone hole over Antarctica in “one or two weeks”
By IANS,
Toronto : A new Canadian study says that cosmic rays, not chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), are the main cause of the depletion of the ozone layer in the earth's atmosphere. The study also predicts that the largest ozone hole - larger than the size of the US and Canada combined - will occur over Antarctica in ``one or two weeks.''
The ozone layer in the earth's atmosphere absorbs the sun's high-frequency ultraviolet rays which are deadly for life on earth and cause diseases such as skin cancer and cataracts.
Key UN climate change summit opens
By DPA,
Copenhagen : A UN conference aimed at halting global warming attended by representatives from nearly 200 countries officially opened here Monday.
The 12-day conference in the Danish capital aims to keep climate change in check through huge emission cuts by the world's richest nations and massive aid to the world's poorest.
It has been described by organisers as "the biggest show on earth today".
Colombo train blast kills eight, leaves 73 injured
By IANS,
Colombo : A powerful bomb blast, which ripped through a crowded rail coach at the edge of the Sri Lankan capital, has killed eight civilians and wounded 73 others, witnesses and officials said.
The deafening blast occurred as the train packed with people returning after work from Colombo to their homes in the country's Sinhalese-majority south neared the Dehiwela railway station around 4.45 p.m.
Developed countries declarations on climate change ‘make no sense’: India
By Joydeep Gupta, IANS,
New Delhi : Industrialised countries should meet their own commitments in the fight against climate change rather than asking countries like India and China to cap greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the prime minister's principal negotiator on climate change Shyam Saran said here.
Russia, US plan new military cooperation deals
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia and the US plan to sign more military cooperation deals, an official said Thursday.
Nepal police arrest 70 Tibetan protestors
By DPA,
Kathmandu : Nepalese police Wednesday arrested more than 70 Tibetan protestors trying to demonstrate in front of the Chinese embassy visa office in Kathmandu.
Police said they arrested the demonstrators after the Tibetan exiles tried to cross the police lines and march on to the visa office.
The protestors included several nuns and monks holding white and yellow roses to show their solidarity with Tibetans in Lhasa and to protest the Chinese crackdown following rioting earlier this year.
Putin answers 85 questions in almost five hours
By IANS,
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has set a new record for the duration of his annual televised question and answer session, replying to 85 questions in four hours and 47 minutes.
NASA’s Cassini clicks Saturn’s moon in best-ever resolution
Washington : A pockmarked, icy landscape looms beneath NASA's Cassini spacecraft in new images of Saturn's moon Dione taken during the mission's last close...
One killed, three injured in plane explosion in Kazakhstan
By RIA Novosti
Astana : One person was killed and three injured when a private German airplane veered off the runway and exploded at Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan, rescuers said on Wednesday.
The Gulf Stream plane was midway through a flight from Hannover to Hong-Kong and was making a refueling stop in Almaty, the former Kazakh capital, an airport spokeswoman said.
World’s biggest Bible factory opens in China
By DPA
Nanjing : It is a country where people caught smuggling religious texts or organising illicit services can face years in jail. Yet China is about to become home to the world's biggest Bible factory, producing a staggering one million copies a month.
The aircraft hangar-sized plant in an industrial park outside the eastern city of Nanjing will be capable of producing more than one Bible every second and is expected to supply one quarter of all the world's Bibles by 2009.
Sri Lanka’s Air Force base attacked, four killed
By Xinhua
Colombo : Four soldiers were killed and eight injured in a predawn air and ground attack launched by guerrillas of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Sri Lanka's north central Anuradhapura Air Force Base Monday, defence officials said.
Ajantha De Silva, the Air Force spokesman, said a group of Tamil Tiger rebels attacked the air base, about 200 km north of the capital Colombo, around 3.20 a.m.
Two LTTE aircraft also dropped bombs at the air base, he said.
ANC gets two-thirds of vote in South Africa elections
By IANS,
Pretoria : The ruling African National Congress (ANC) led by Jacob Zuma Friday received more than two-thirds of the vote as the counting neared completion in South Africa's fourth general elections.
The ANC currently has 67.2 percent of the votes counted. The party was leading in eight of the country's nine provinces, except for the hotly contested Western Cape province where the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) of Cape Town mayor Helen Zille was leading.
Former US president Jimmy Carter hospitalized
By DPA,
Washington : Former US president Jimmy Carter was hospitalised in Cleveland, Ohio, after falling ill on a flight Tuesday morning to the city.
Birds of a flock work together
By Ernest Gill, DPA,
Hamburg (Germany) : Hitchcock was right: birds do cooperate to solve tasks which no individual bird could master alone, says a team of German scientists.
Until now, such group problem-solving efforts have been thought to be restricted to humans and other primates, such as chimpanzees. But the team of scientists headed by Amanda Seed at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, discovered the same group techniques used among pairs of rooks.
US industrial production drops
By IANS,
Washington: US industrial production dropped 0.4 percent in October as superstorm Sandy held down output in the Northeast region, the US Federal Reserve reported.
Obama urges action as White House sees continuing recession
By DPA,
Washington : US president-elect Barack Obama Friday called for urgent action to stem the country's economic decline, lending his backing to a $825-billion stimulus package introduced by lawmakers Thursday.
The outgoing Bush administration said it expects the US recession to continue through at least the first half of 2009 and unemployment to surge to 7.7 percent this year, according to a White House forecast issued Friday.
But Obama warned that even with a massive injection of public cash into the world's largest economy "things could get worse before they get better."
Venezuela president threatens US with oil embargo
By IANS
Caracas : President Hugo Chavez has warned he will cut off Venezuela's oil flow to the US if the latter launches an economic war against his country via firms like Exxon Mobil.
Chavez delivered the warning on his weekly radio and television show "Alo Presidente" Sunday after Exxon Mobil Corp won court rulings to freeze $12 billion worth assets of state-run oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), EFE news agency reported Monday.
Inspired by India, Mexico to set up knowledge commission
By Mayank Chhaya, IANS
Chicago : Mexico City is taking a leaf out of India's National Knowledge Commission (NKC) and is taking the help of its chairman Sam Pitroda to turn the megapolis of 20 million people into "the knowledge capital of Latin America."
The initiative has come from Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard who recently hosted Pitroda in the first in a series of visits to help evolve a plan that is expected to be operationalized by the end of the year.
Civil servants’ strike cripples government services in Nepal
By IANS
Kathmandu : Civil servants across the country went on strike in Nepal Tuesday, demanding security, especially in the turbulent Terai plains in the south, bringing the work of the government to a halt.
Three unions of civil servants called a "pen down" strike in Nepal Tuesday, affecting government offices, ministries, courts and other government establishments.
Italy to pay dlrs five billion compensation to Libya
By IRNA,
Rome : Italy agreed over the weekend to pay Libya $5 billion as compensation for its 30-year occupation of the country, which ended in 1943.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the Libyan leader, Muammar el-Qaddafi, signed a memorandum pledging a $5 billion compensation package that involves construction projects, student grants and pensions for Libyan soldiers who served with the Italians in World War II.
"It is a material and emotional recognition of the mistakes that our country has done to yours during the colonial era," Berlusconi said.
Surface water often contaminated with salmonella
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers, who tested stream water over a one-year period in south Georgia, found a high concentration of Salmonella in 79 percent of the samples. Salmonella is a bacteria that causes typhoid and food borne illness Salmonellosis.
"Streams are not routinely tested for Salmonella, and our finding is an indication that many more could be contaminated than people realise," said Erin Lipp, associate professor in the University of Georgia-Atlanta (UGA) College of Public Health.
Israel opens two Gaza crossings
By KUNA,
GAZA : Israel temporarily opened two Gaza crossings on Wednesday, allowing trucks carrying humanitarian aid, goods, and fuel derivatives to enter the Strip.
The Israeli authorities informed the Palestinian side that Karem Shalom Crossing will be opened to allow in 80 trucks, including 24 of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and other international organizations, said head of the committee supervising the entry of supplies into Gaza Raed Fattouh.
North Korea expels 11 South Korean officials
By DPA
Seoul : In a confrontational move, North Korea expelled 11 South Korean government officials from their joint office in the industrial zone of Kaesong Thursday, the unification ministry said.
North Korea said remarks by Unification Minister Kim Ha Joong last week that it would be difficult to expand the complex without progress in North Korea's denuclearisation as the reason for the expulsion, said a ministry spokesman.
Newly elected conservative President Lee Myung Bak expressed regret Thursday over the expulsion and vowed to deal sternly with Pyongyang's provocation.
Nepal parties form panel to resolve deadlock
By Xinhua,
Kathmandu : Nepal's three leading parties in the Constituent Assembly (CA) Sunday decided to form a joint panel to suggest ways to end the current political deadlock.
The six-member panel includes two representatives from each of the three parties, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M), the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML).
The panel is expected to form a draft for amending the interim constitution to resolve the deadlock over power-sharing, according to Nepalnews.com.
Ex-vice mayor shot dead in Phillipines
By IANS,
Manila : A former vice mayor and his wife were shot dead in this Phillipines capital, police said.
Bush, Merkel discuss Russia-Georgia relations
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : A meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush Germany's chancellor on Wednesday touched on Russia-Georgia relations and the risk of instability to in region, a deputy assistant to the president told reporters.
Judy Ansley said "On Georgia, they talked about the risk of escalation in the region because of the Russian provocations since April, and talked about ways that they could work together to reduce tensions in the region."
Ugandan president threatens to quell election demos with army
By DPA,
Kampala : Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has warned he would quickly mobilise the army should threatened violent protests follow elections planned for this Friday.
EU-US summit opens in Slovenia with packed agenda
By DPA,
Brdo (Slovenia) : Top European Union (EU) officials were holding talks with US President George W Bush Tuesday at the start of his final European tour, designed to affirm trans-Atlantic ties before he leaves office in January.
Iran, Afghanistan, climate change and rising global food prices were on the agenda for the EU-US summit, held this year at a secluded resort in the shadow of the Slovenian Alps.
"We've got a lot to talk about," Bush said as he left Washington Monday.
23 killed in Bangladesh stampede
Dhaka: At least 23 people -- all women and children -- were killed in a stampede in Bangladesh's Mymensingh district, about 120 km...
US to double funds for Lebanon PM murder trial tribunal
By Xinhua
Washington : The US will double its funding of a UN tribunal on the assassination three years ago of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
The financial support will increase from the previous $7 million to $14 million to help fund the UN tribunal's one-year budget, Rice said in a statement issued to mark the anniversary of Hariri's assassination Feb 14, 2005.
Russia to become Europe’s largest internet market
By IANS,
Moscow : Russia will soon become the largest internet market in Europe, the country's communications minister has said.
Mbeki faces ouster as ANC head at party conference
By DPA
Polokwane (South Africa) : A leadership conference of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) that could oust President Thabo Mbeki after 10 years as the party head got underway Sunday in the northern town of Polokwane.
Mbeki, 65, headed into the conference as the underdog in a bitter race against ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, the 65-year-old Zulu politician who took nearly two-thirds of the votes at the party nominations level.
Obese claimants claim 10 mn pounds in Britain
By IANS,
London: About 2,000 people in Britain, who are on benefit because they are too fat to work, are costing taxpayers 10 million pounds a year.
A breakdown of official figures said the number claiming the handout had almost doubled since 1997 to 1,950, the Mail Online reported Saturday.
One in four adult Britons is thought to be technically obese, but to claim incapacity benefit they must be so overweight that they cannot hold a job.
British Muslims deplore jizya on Sikh and demolition of their properties
By TwoCircles.net news desk,
New Delhi: Council of Indian Muslims—UK (CIM) has strongly condemned the imposition of the so called Jizya on Sikh community and demolition of their houses in Pakistan's Aurakzai tribal region as “un-Islamic and shameful”.
A press statement issued by the CIM quotes its religious affairs advisor and London based renowned religious scholar Maulana Atiqur-Rehman Sambhali as saying, “Such an action is highly deplorable, unacceptable and un-Islamic. “
Colombia to ratify tax treaty with India by year-end
By IANS,
Bogota: Colombia is likely to ratify double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with India by the end of this year, which will help boost flow of two-way investments.
Japan PM’s residence ‘not haunted’: Government
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Tokyo : The Japanese government has denied rumours which said the prime minister's official residence was haunted.
Americans think healthcare system needs radical overhaul
By IANS,
Washington : The bulk of Americans, highly dissatisfied with their healthcare system, think that it needs a radical overhaul to provide better services and care to the public, according to a new survey.
Released Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund, the survey also outlined what an ideally organised healthcare system would look like, and detailing strategies that could create that organized, efficient system while simultaneously improving care and cutting costs.
UN peacekeeping chief calls for law, order in Kosovo
By ANTARA News,
Belgrade : The UN peacekeeping chief Jean- Marie Guehenno on Sunday called on Kosovo Serb leaders to respect law and order as violence is not a way to solve problems.
Guehenno, the UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations, made the appeal after meeting the presidents of northern Kosovo Serb-majority municipalities in the Kosovo flashpoint town of Mitrovica, Serbia`s official news agency Tanjug reported.
The UN Security Council Resolution 1244 is still in effect and all practical endeavors must be based on that document, Guehenno said.
Malaysian Tamils protest Madurai bullfight ban
By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : About 300 Malaysian Tamils observed a daylong fast here to protest the Indian Supreme Court's ban on Madurai's traditional sport Jallikattu, a bull taming sport which is considered part of the annual Pongal celebration.
The Pongal or harvest is a grand festival and the bull-run is one of the highlights of the three-day festival, Malaysia Nanban newspaper reported.
Jallikattu is a 400-year-old tradition in Tamil Nadu, mainly in the districts of Madurai, Theni, Sivaganga and Salem.
Bolivian president enacts new constitution
By IANS,
El Alto (Bolivia) : Bolivian President Evo Morales has enacted a new constitution that he says will "refound" the country on the basis of unity, equality and dignity and put it on a path to national reconciliation, EFE reported Sunday. "Mission accomplished. For the refounding of a united Bolivia," Morales said Saturday while enacting a charter that was approved by popular vote in a referendum held Jan 25.
32 terror groups busted in China
Beijing : A total of 32 terror modules were busted, over 380 suspects apprehended and 315 people sentenced by the courts during an anti-terror...
11 killed in Russian plane crash
By RIA Novosti,
Vladivostok : A Russian interior ministry plane with 11 crewmembers on board crashed several minutes after taking off in Yakutia, authorities said Sunday.
"All 11 people died in the air crash," a spokesman for the ministry's regional centre said.
The spokesman said the plane, an Il-76 Candid strategic airlifter, bound for the city of Irkutsk, fell and caught fire about three kilometres from Mirny airport.
Seven crew as well as four members from a replacement crew were on board.
2,700-year-old human skeletons found in Mexico
By IANS,
Mexico City : Archaeologists claimed to have discovered a tomb with four skeletal remains dating back some 2,700 years in the ruins of a Mexican pyramid.
The tomb at the ancestral site of Zoque ethnicity in southeastern state of Chiapas, "consists of the skeletons of four individuals, two of them wearing jade, along with ceramics and other objects prized by the culture of the period", the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said.
Germany boosts assistance, relief measures for Iraq
Berlin: Germany announced Wednesday to increase its humanitarian aid for Iraq and signalled willingness to take further measures to improve the situation in the...
CHOGM will dispel pessimism about Copenhagen: Trinidad PM
By Paras Ramoutar, IANS,
Port-of-Spain : The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) here will "lead the way" for the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen next month, according to Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
CHOGM can overcome the pessimism surrounding the Copenhagen conference, Manning said at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth People's Forum Sunday evening.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected here with his delegation Thursday.
Second temblor rocks Indonesia
By IANS,
Hong Kong : A second temblor, this one measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale, struck off the west coast of northern Sumatra Wednesday, hours after a more intense earthquake shook the area.
Berlin hails Georgian poll as “step towards democratic society”
By IRNA,
Berlin : German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger welcomed Georgia's parliamentary elections as what he termed as an "important step towards a democratic society."
Talking to the press, Jaeger said the parliamentary poll was mostly predominately fair."
Pointing to massive deficiencies during January's presidential election in Georgia, the
German official added that election monitors had certified substantial improvements in the organization and vote count of this election.
However, Jaeger made clear that these elections were also "not free of any shortcomings."
Jamaica to reward Olympic athletes
By IANS/CMC,
Kingston (Jamaica): Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says athletes who represented the country in last month's London Olympics will be rewarded for their efforts.
Kamala Harris wins nomination in California attorney general race
By Arun Kumar,IANS,
Washington : Daughter of an Indian mother and an African American father, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has won the Democratic primary for attorney general of California.
Harris easily outdistanced her main rival, Facebook executive Chris Kelly, and five other candidates in Tuesday's primary. Kelly had sunk more than $12 million into the campaign.
US stocks extend monthly gains
By DPA,
New York : US stock indices continued their strong monthly showing Thursday on some positive company earnings reports, the latest in a string of better-than-expected economic news in the midst of the US recession.
US electronics chain Best Buy Co, food producer ConAgra Foods Inc and drinks maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc led a four-percent rally in consumer shares.
General Motors Corp surged 14 percent after about 7,500 workers accepted the company's buyout offer, helping the US carmaking giant reduce labour costs.
Southern Thai drug ring busted, leader detained in Malaysia
By NNN-Bernama
Bangkok : Thai police believe they have smashed the biggest drug syndicate in the restive southern Thailand with the arrest of its leader in Malaysia Sunday.
Mayakee Makoh was arrested at Sungai Golok pier with the cooperation of the Malaysian police, said Deputy National Police Chief Wongkot Maneerin.
He said 14 of the 16-member syndicate have been arrested so far.
Seven killed in China landslide
Beijing : Seven people were killed while one person was rescued when a landslide hit China's Shanxi province early Sunday, Xinhua reported.
The incident occurred...
Man on motorised wheelchair fined for speeding
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Rio de Janeiro : Traffic police in Brazil fined a disabled man on a motorised wheelchair for "speeding" down a busy highway. The man said he "simply wanted to test his new invention".
An elderly man with disabilities, whose name was not disclosed, was found speeding down a busy highway in his self-made motorised wheelchair, police said Wednesday.
Though his actual speed was not known, eyewitnesses said he easily overtook cars and trucks on the highway, connecting the north and the south of the country.
Let pandas die out: conservationist
By IANS,
London : A British conservationist says pandas should be allowed to go extinct because they are "extraordinarily expensive to keep going" and may be surviving at the cost of other species and rainforests.
"Extinction is very much a part of life on earth. And we are going to have to get used to it in the next few years because climate change is going to result in all sorts of disappearances," TV naturalist Chris Peckham said.
Uganda to host OIC Business Forum in June
By IINA,
Kampala : Preparations are in the full swing for the forthcoming Foreign Ministerial Conference of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Kampala, capital of Uganda. The 35th Session of Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers will be held at the Speke Hotel Munyonyo on June 18-20. The Conference will be preceded by a business forum on June 16-18 at Imperial Royale Hotel, reported All Africa.com.
Uma Thurman’s stalker held guilty
By IANS,
New York : A court here has found a 37-year-old man guilty of stalking Hollywood star Uma Thurman for a period of two years.
Jack Jordan, a University of Chicago graduate turned drifter, was Tuesday convicted of stalking Thurman, known for films like "Kill Bill" and "Pulp Fiction", between 2005 and 2007. He was also found guilty of aggravated harassment for stuffing a love letter into the mailbox of the actress's New York townhouse in 2007.
Bush immigration plan gets off to a slow start
By Arun Kumar
IANSWashington : President George Bush's controversial plan to give millions of unlawful immigrants, including some 300,000 Indians, legal status in the United States cleared its first hurdle with the Senate taking up the issue for debate amid widespread opposition.
Sri Lankan troops enter no fire zone: Radio
By Xinhua,
Colombo : Sri Lankan troops nearing the end of their campaign against Tamil Tigers have entered the no-fire zone in the north, state radio reported Saturday.
Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in its main English news bulletin said the army's 58 division led by Brigadier Shavendra Silva had entered Puttumatalan no-fire zone Friday evening.
However, the military is yet to officially confirm the troops' entry to the government declared no-fire zone for the safety of over 100,000 civilians from the minority Tamil community.
Singapore team treated over 2,500 injured, sick in Nepal
Singapore : The Singapore contingent attended to more than 2,500 injured or sick people in Nepal after the deadly earthquake of April.
According to the...
Solar eruptions could disrupt power grids, telecom by 2012
By IANS,
Washington : Extreme solar eruptions could disrupt communications, power grids and other technology on earth by 2012.
These eruptions are expected to increase in frequency and intensity towards the next solar maximum cycle which peaks in 2012, up from the current minimum of its 11-year activity cycle.
‘Moscow has no territorial dispute with Tokyo’
By IANS,
Moscow: Russia does not see any territorial dispute with Japan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
"We don't see that situation as some...
Japan seeks China’s support for UN resolution on North Korea
By DPA,
Tokyo : Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso asked visiting Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan for Beijing's support to adopt a UN Security Council resolution against North Korea's nuclear test last month, media reports said Monday.
Aso was quoted as telling Wang that Japan expected China to play a role in denuclearising Pyongyang, government officials said.
Detainees exchanged through mediation of Council of Europe Commissioner
By KUNA,
Paris : Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, affirmed here Monday that he sensed during his recent mission to the areas affected by the South Ossetian conflict that among the most "pressing" human rights concerns pertaining to the conflict was the return from both sides of the persons detained.
Patil heads to Bhutan Wednesday for coronation
By IANS,
New Delhi : President Pratibha Patil goes to Thimphu Wednesday for four days of ceremonies that will mark the coronation of the 29-year-old Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk as the fifth king of Bhutan.
“The visit of the president at this significant moment in Bhutan's history will further strengthen bilateral relations between India and Bhutan,” the external affairs ministry said here Monday while announcing Patil's visit to Bhutan.
Kosovo Declaration of Independence Worries China
By Prensa Latina
Beijing : China declared on Monday it is deeply concerned over the unilateral declaration of independence by the Serbian province of Kosovo.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao affirmed that step will negatively influenced on peace and stability in the Balkans, as well as on the aspiration to establish a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo.
China urges Serbia and Kosovo to keep looking for an adequate solution through negotiations in line with international law, and to jointly preserve security and stability in the Balkans, he sustained.
US airman arrested in Japan despite curfew
By KUNA
Tokyo : Japanese police arrested a US serviceman on suspicion of trespassing into an office building in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa amid a 24-hour curfew imposed by the US military on their personnel since February 20, police said on Monday.
The 21-year-old airman at Kadena Air Base, who was arrested on Sunday, has admitted the allegations, the police said, adding that they also detected alcohol on the breath of the soldier.
Three rules ‘must’ for optimising technology use for progress
By IANS,
Washington : Use of technology can be optimised for ensuring social progress if policy makers are clear about how to apply it and know what to expect from their efforts.
Daniel Sarewitz of Arizona State University (ASU) and Richard Nelson of Columbia University described three rules that can help technology and science policy makers become smarter about where to apply technological fixes and what to expect as a result.
Britain police warn against cut in anti-terrorism funding
By IANS,
London : The terror threat to Britain is still deemed "severe" and slashing police funding will make the country more vulnerable to terrorist attacks, a senior anti-terrorism officer has warned.
Britain will be left vulnerable to terrorist attacks under government plans to slash funding for counter-terrorism police by 150 million pounds, said John Yates, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
Dozens injured and arrested as riots mar Kurdish demo in Berlin
By IRNA,
Berlin : Dozens of people were injured and arrested late Saturday afternoon when a demonstration of Kurds in Berlin's city center turned violent, news reports said.
At least 11 police officers were hurt and 57 people were detained, a Berlin police spokesperson said.
Kurds and Turks clashed with each other following a series of verbal provocations, coming from the sidelines of the demonstration.
Mexico looking at 4-5 percent growth in 2010: President
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.
Thai army chief declares himself acting PM
Bangkok : Thailand's army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha has declared himself as acting prime minister until someone is found to permanently serve the post, media...
My partner has a right to live his life: Australian PM
By IANS,
Melbourne: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says that her partner, who works as a real estate salesman for a property group owned by a pro-Israel lobbyist, has "a right to live his life too".
Gillard's partner Tim Mathieson is employed at a firm by Melbourne developer Albert Dadon, a pro-Israel lobbyist.
She said her public condemnation of recent Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli territory during the Gaza intervention was well before there had been any suggestion of Mathieson working for Dadon, The Age reported Tuesday.
Russians ‘won’t stop here’: Saakashvili
By DPA,
Berlin : Russia's actions in Georgia earlier this month had destroyed the order in Europe established after World War II, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told German public radio Friday.
The Georgian president warned that Russia would be emboldened by its military success. "They are not going to stop here," he said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk.
"What Russia has done undermines and destroys the whole post-Cold War, post-Second World War European order," he said.
Two shootouts in US, nine killed
By IANS
New York : Within 12 hours of a gunman, with a grudge, killing five before being killed by the police in Missouri, a female student Friday shot dead two fellow women students and then fatally shot herself inside a classroom in a Louisiana college.
The shootout was confined to a classroom of Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge, the CNN reported.
The motive of the shooter was not immediately known, nor her identity or those of her victims.
Russian Election Commission monitors snub U.S. presidential poll
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The Russian Central Election Commission is not sending any observers to monitor the U.S. presidential election scheduled for November 4, the top election official said on Tuesday.
Vladimir Churov explained the move saying that Russia had twice invited monitors from the U.S. Federal Election Commission, for December parliamentary elections and March presidential elections, but they did not come.
"The exchange should be mutual," Churov said.
100 mn Chinese farmers to migrate to urban areas
By IANS,
Beijing : Over 100 million Chinese farmers are likely to migrate to urban areas over the next decade, Xinhua reported.
Nepal rules out swine flu as mystery virus kills 13
By IANS,
Kathmandu : A medical team that rushed to a remote village in western Nepal after a mystery disease killed 13 people in less than a fortnight Wednesday ruled out an outbreak of swine flu and attributed the deaths to a viral attack.
Over 40 more people in Gumla village in Gorkha district, the place from where deposed king Gyanendra's ancestors had hailed, were being treated after they complained of headache, cough, sore throat and fever.
On Wednesday alone, three villagers had died, creating panic in the area.
Russians in control of South Ossetian capital
By DPA,
Moscow/Tbilisi : After three days of fighting between Georgian and Russian troops in the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Russian troops were in control of the capital Tskhinvali Sunday.
Georgian forces have completely withdrawn from Tskhinvali, the Russian military said Sunday, thereby confirming earlier accounts by Georgia that its forces had withdrawn from the city. But Tbilisi denied that its forces had completely pulled out of South Ossetia.
Russia’s Medvedev wants greater energy ties through SCO
By RIA Novosti,
Beijing : New spheres of cooperation should be developed through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), particularly the sphere of energy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Chinese students on Saturday.
The president, on the second day of his official visit to Beijing, told students at Peking University: "Within the framework of this organization we are able to agree on new directions of cooperation, including on the energy issue."
IAEA seeks more funds after nuclear security summit
By IANS,
United Nations : The United Nations agency that plays a leading role in trying to stop terrorists getting their hands on nuclear materials is seeking greater funding to carry out its task following this week's Washington summit on nuclear security.
Strike by Zimbabwean Opposition Fails
By Prensa Latina,
Harare : A general strike convoked by opposition Movement for a Democratic Change failed in this capital Tuesday, since most of commercial establishments opened their doors without hearing the call.
Oppositors wanted to force people to make the results of the March 29 elections published immediately, and a massive response against the negative of the local Supreme Court to make pressure on the Electoral Commission to inform on its scrutiny work
Paramedic found guilty of sexually assaulting accident victims
By DPA,
Wellington : A 35-year-old paramedic was found guilty Wednesday of indecently assaulting a schoolgirl in the back of an ambulance that was taking her to hospital after a car crash, news reports said.
A jury in a New Zealand court found the man guilty on four charges of indecent assault on the girl, who was 16 and wearing her school uniform at the time, and two similar charges on other patients.
The girl told the the Auckland District court during the trial, "I knew what he was doing was wrong. He pulled down my skirt and touched me."
Moscow police detain about 100 protesters
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : About 100 people, including several prominent opposition leaders, have been detained during a demonstration in the Russian capital, police said.
Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said about 300 people gathered on Triumphalnaya Square Sunday in anti-Kremlin protest.
Boris Nemtsov, former Russian deputy prime minister, Eduard Limonov, leader of opposition movement The Other Russia and Oleg Orlov, head of the Memorial human rights group, were among the protestors.
US college students not so aware of HIV testing
By IANS,
Washington : College students in the US know enough about HIV transmission, but are less well informed about its testing, according to a University of Georgia study.
Su-I Hou, associate professor in the University of Georgia, surveyed more than 500 students and found that they scored higher on general questions related to HIV and AIDS (82 percent correct) than items specifically related to HIV testing (72 percent correct).
The results of the survey appeared in the July issue of the Journal of the National Medical Association.
Many New York teenagers victims of sexual violence: survey
By IANS,
New York : A survey of 1,300 high school students here has revealed that 16.2 percent of them have been subjected to sexual violence, and in most cases the victims knew the perpetrators.
The three-year, comprehensive survey of students aged between 13 and 21 years, with 15 or 16-year-olds being in the majority, found that 16.2 percent of the teenagers had suffered sexual violence - a much higher figure than the national average of 7 to 10.2 percent.
White House: No open-ended troop commitment in Iraq
By DPA
Washington : The US troop commitment to Iraq was not open-ended, the White House announced after a top US general said he wants to keep 130,000 troops in the country through next summer.
White House spokesman Tony Snow Wednesday rejected Democratic criticism that President George W. Bush planned on keeping troops in Iraq indefinitely.
"It is not an open-ended commitment," Snow said.
UN Security Council condemned Libya hotel attack
United Nations: The UN Security Council strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, which killed at least eight people.
In...
Free political prisoners, Spain tells Cuba
By IANS/EFE,
Madrid : Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has demanded that Cuba's communist government release its "prisoners of conscience" and respect human rights following the death of a Cuban political prisoner on hunger strike.
The death Tuesday of Orlando Zapata Tamayo resulted in the most direct call to date on the Castro regime by Zapatero's Socialist administration.
Nepal crown princess survives health scare
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : Three months after Nepal's Crown Prince Paras suffered a massive heart attack, his wife, Crown Princess Himani, survived a health scare.
The India-born crown princess, who has presented a smiling and serene face in public throughout the tribulation of the royal family, was rushed to hospital Monday evening after she complained of headache and breathing trouble.
Tropical storm kills 16 in China
By RIA Novosti,
Beijing : At least 16 people have been killed after the deadly typhoon Fengshen hit southern China, China Daily reported on Monday.
The authorities fear the death toll could rise with nine people still missing.
The storm, whose name means "God of Wind" in Chinese battered China's southern province of Guangdong last Wednesday. Strong winds and downpours caused rivers to swell, destroying over 1,200 houses and hundreds of hectares of crops.
The typhoon, which has affected some 340,000 people, is currently moving northeast of the province.
India concerned over Hafiz Saeed’s comments
New Delhi: India on Thursday expressed concern over Pakistan-based terrorist Hafiz Saeed's threat that more attacks will be carried out after the cross-border terror...
Nepal Supreme Court to decide Sobhraj’s fate on Nov 4
By Sudeshna Sarkar
Kathmandu, Sep 17 (IANS) After more than four years' imprisonment in Nepal, the first country to convict him of murder in a criminal career spanning nearly two decades and several countries, yesteryear's crime maestro Charles Sobhraj's fate will finally be decided in November.
Nepal's Supreme Court, that is hearing his appeal against life imprisonment for the murder of an American backpacker in 1975, said it would pronounce the final verdict on Nov 4.
Seven kids die in China orphanage blaze
By IANS,
Beijing : Seven children died of burns in China's Henan province Friday in a fire that engulfed an orphanage, Xinhua reported.
Rajapaksa gets nod to free jailed ex-army chief
By IANS,
Colombo : The Sri Lankan government has approved the release of jailed former army chief Sarath Fonseka, an official said Thursday.
Indian jailed for Britain’s biggest fake credit card fraud
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London : An India-born computer specialist who was the mastermind behind Britain's biggest fake credit card racket has been jailed for six years.
Anup Patel and his accomplices had amassed nearly 2 million pounds (over $3 million) by making counterfeit credit cards and using them in several countries in Asia and Europe. Police believe they would have cheated people of 16 million pounds by now had they not been caught.
Curiosity lands on Mars
By IANS,
Washington : US space agency's nuclear-powered rover Curiosity touched down on Mars Sunday.
UAE opens building at British military academy
By IANS/WAM,
London: The UAE has opened a new building in the memory of its founding father, late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS).
Social networking costs Britain 14 bn pounds in lost work time
By IANS,
London : Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter have cost the British economy a whopping 14 billion pounds a year in lost work time, a study said.
The study pointed out that two million employees spend an hour a day on social networking sites and over half the workforce make use of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or YouTube for half an hour a day when they are supposed to be working.
The Sun Friday reported that only 14 percent admitted the sites made them less productive while 10 percent said it made them do more.
Canada, EU seek new trade pact
By SPA,
Montreal : Canada and the European Union are committed to forging a comprehensive economic partnership, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Friday.
The unfolding global financial crisis makes liberalizing trade between Canada and the EU even more crucial, Harper said after a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the annual Canada-EU Summit in Quebec City, according to a report of DPA.
Six South African Indians in Zuma cabinet
By Fakir Hassen, IANS,
Pretoria: Six South Africans of Indian origin have been included in the cabinet of new President Jacob Zuma, including the much-spoken about Pravin Gordhan as finance minister and Ebrahim Patel as minister of economic affairs.
The four deputy ministers are Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, deputy minister of international relations and co-operation affairs; Roy Padayachee, public services and administration; Enver Surtee, basic education; and Yunus Carrim, co-operative government and traditional affairs.
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