International

Rio de Janeiro : Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro on Sunday as...

By Arun Kumar, IANS Washington : President George Bush has voiced optimism that a US sponsored Middle East conference that starts Tuesday with over 40 nations including India participating will lead to lasting peace between Israel and Palestine "living side by side" as two democratic states.

By RIA Novosti Moscow : A Russian cargo spacecraft, Progress M-62, has lifted off for the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, Russia's mission control said on Sunday. "The spacecraft was launched in the nominal regime at the designated time (10:12 a.m. Moscow time [07:12 a.m. GMT])," mission control said. The Progress vehicle's flight to the station will last three instead of two days to prepare the spacecraft's systems for docking with the ISS more carefully, mission control said.

By Arun Kumar Washington : Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to the US with a litany of complaints against India with the...

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By P. Karunakharan, IANS, Colombo : Sri Lanka's ruling coalition Sunday swept the provincial council polls held for two of the island's nine provincial councils. Voting was held Saturday for the Sabaragamuwa province (100 km south-east of Colombo), and North-Central provinces (180 km north-east of Colombo). According to the Election Secretariat, nearly 70 percent of little over two million eligible voters exercised their franchise in a relatively violence-free poll.

By RIA Novosti Moscow : Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, has officially announced presidential elections March 2, the speaker said Monday. According to speaker Sergei Mironov, electioneering for the elections of the president and to the State Duma (lower house) will start Nov 28 after the decision of the federal council is published in the official government daily 'Rossiiskaya Gazeta' and parliament's daily 'Parliamentskaya Gazeta'. "The election campaign will start on the day of publication," Mironov said.

By Xinhua Jakarta : A series of moderate earthquakes jolted the western and eastern parts of Indonesia Monday, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said. A 5.8 magnitude quake struck at 5.23 a.m. with its epicentre 146 km southwest of Lais town of Bengkulu province and at 10 km in depth, said an official of the agency. About one hour later, a 5.4 magnitude quake hit the province with its epicentre 44 km southwest of the town and at 10 km in depth, he added.

By DPA, Washington : With an eye to the nation's expanding waistlines and dwindling incomes, Michelle Obama is organising a vegetable garden at the White House. The spade was to be turned Friday for the first such garden at the White House since the victory garden planted by Eleanor Roosevelt during World War II, media reports said. Fifth graders from a local elementary school in Washington are to help plant, harvest and cook the vegetables, berries and herbs.

By IANS, Beijing: Four people have been detained in China's Chongqing city for spreading doomsday rumors, police said Saturday.

London : Thousands of activists are expected to participate in a march in New York, London and eight other cities worldwide, including Delhi, to...

By IANS/EFE, Sao Paulo : Brazilian employers were unable to fill 1.6 million jobs in 2009 due to a lack of qualified workers, especially in the areas of engineering, nutrition and dietetics, the Sine public employment agency network said. Low educational levels were identified as the principal factor in not filling these jobs in 2009, which the global financial crisis turned into the worst year for job creation in the South American country since 2003. Of the job openings posted by Sine, just 39 percent were filled last year, compared to 42 percent in 2008 and 48 percent in 2007.

By DPA, Moscow: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Tuesday sharply criticised the arrest in the US and Cyprus of 11 suspected Russian spies. The FBI had "let themselves go," he said at a meeting with former US president Bill Clinton near Moscow. "They're just putting people in prison." Luckily there were many people, such as Clinton, for whom Russian-US relations were worth a lot, Putin, a former president and KGB agent, said. The Russian foreign ministry also confirmed for the first time that those arrested included Russian nationals.

By IANS, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) : At least 29 people have been killed and many trapped in the wreckage when two buses collided in La Romana city of eastern Dominican Republic, EFE news agency reported Saturday. The accident occurred early Friday when a speeding bus rammed into another sitting on the tarmac with passengers inside, city police chief Gen. Luis Luna Paulino said. The doors of the two buses got stuck under the impact of the crash and the survivors in the two vehicles, many severely wounded, were unable to get out, he said.

New Delhi: Swiss and other European banks have asked Indian customers to avail the ongoing one-time compliance window granted by the tax department for...

By DPA, Moscow : Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the nation would rely on its massive reserve funds to emerge from the financial crisis, halt inflation and a fall in the rouble. Putin's address at the congress of his party United Russia was full of economic patriotism, aimed at calming fears of future shocks from the worst financial turbulence the country has seen in over a decade.

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 Xinhua Brdo, Slovenia : Serbia remains committed to the path of integration into the European Union (EU), but not at the price of Kosovo, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Friday. "Despite all the challenges and despite all the difficulties that we are going through, we remain committed to the path of European integration," Jeremic told reporters after a short breakfast meeting with his EU counterparts, the first time for them to talk face to face since a majority of EU countries recognized Kosovo's self-declared independence, which angered Belgrade.

By IANS, London : Singer Gwen Stefani has donated $1 million for relief efforts in Japan. She will also sell a limited edition of T-shirts to raise more money.

By DPA, Stockholm : An apparent suicide attacker blew himself up in central Stockholm Saturday, local media reported.

By IANS, Washington : Beware of malnutrition if you are going in for a body contouring procedure following weight loss surgery. Proper nutrition cuts down surgical complications, accelerates wound healing, improves scar quality and boosts your energy levels. "Body contouring procedures (post weight loss surgery) are major operations with large incisions in many areas that demand a lot of the body during the healing process," said Dennis Hurwitz of American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), co-author of a new study on the subject.

By Xinhua

Jerusalem : The United States is expected to lift an embargo on direct assistance once the new Palestinian government is inaugurated, said a U.S. envoy on Saturday.

    During talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, Jacob Walles, U.S. Consul general in Jerusalem, said that the United States is expected to reengage with the new government.

By P.K. Balachandran, IANS Colombo : Sri Lanka's air force chief, Air Marshal Roshan Goonetilleke, narrowly escaped being caught in a bomb blast in the capital Tuesday. The media Wednesday quoted military officials as saying that the air force commander had passed by the site of the blast in the Fort area of central Colombo, just three minutes before a parcel bomb placed in a roadside public telephone booth went off. Fitted with a timer, the bomb caused some minor damage to a building nearby. No one was injured.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS, Kathmandu : Nepal Friday celebrated the 59th anniversary of the attaining of democracy after more than a century of oppressive rule by the Rana dynasty of hereditary prime ministers, but there appeared to be little cheer among the people due to the continued political stalemate. On this day in 1951, following a long struggle against the Rana rule that also saw Nepal's then king Tribhuban flee to India to seek asylum with his son and heir Mahendra and grandson Birendra, the last Rana ruler stepped down and the Shah dynasty of kings took over.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow: The remains of 11 people buried about 80 years ago have been discovered near the Russian capital, officials said.

By Xinhua, Yokohama, Japan : African leaders, who are here for the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), Wednesday called for closer Africa-Asia cooperation and productive usage of international aid. Addressing a plenary themed "Boosting of Economic Growth", Uganda President Kaguta Museveni said his country was truly optimistic that the economic and strategic cooperation between Africa and Asia can be further strengthened to improve living conditions for both continents.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By Xinhua Jakarta : The Indonesian government plans to build four nuclear power plants by 2025 to meet electricity demand, an official said Wednesday. "If one nuclear power plant can produce 1,200 megawatts of electricity, we need four plants by 2025 to meet our demand," State Minister for Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman was quoted as saying by the national Antara news agency.

By IANS, Toronto : The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada's central police force, has been indicted for the death of a newly arrived immigrant at Vancouver airport. Robert Dziekanski, who had just landed as a new immigrant from Poland, was killed inside the airport after he got agitated for failing to find his mother two years ago. Having no knowledge of English, the Polish man failed to communicate with anybody inside the airport and failed to get out of the airport. He remained stuck inside the airport for many hours even as his mother left after waiting for him.

By IANS, Sydney : Shun refined carbohydrates and chocolates if you really want to avoid pimples, according to a new study conducted in Australia. The first randomised controlled trial on diet and acne in more than 40 years has established that a protein-based, low GI (glycemic index) diet could have a dramatic effect on acne symptoms. GI is a measure for calculating the glucose level of the blood. A low GI diet contains foods that have a low glucose level.

By IANS, Toronto : The New York City fire department, which lost 341 firefighters on 9/11, has slammed a Canadian politician for using graphic images of the world's worst terror attack on her publicity posters for her annual fundraising event.

By IANS/EFE, Caracas (Venezuela) : China would provide $20 billion to Venezuela for a "large volume and long term" financing plan in exchange for more petroleum, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said. China will contribute financing of $20 billion" to help with development in Venezuela under conditions that in no way have anything to do with the excessive interest rates of multilateral lending entities, such as the International Monetary Fund, Chavez said ahead of a meeting here Sunday with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

By DPA Budapest : The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Nobel Peace Prize winning UN body, has agreed to bring out its next major assessment report by 2014, its chairman Rajendra Pachauri of India said Thursday. The IPCC's fourth report was used as the basis of global climate change talks and was largely responsible for it last year winning the Peace Prize - along with former US vice president Al Gore - for increasing public awareness of manmade climate change.

By TwoCircles.net news desk The United Nations-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today approved $1.1 billion of new grants to be handed out over the next two years and agreed to allocate another $130 million to five projects it had already started supporting. This is the first time since the Fund was established in 2002 that it has passed $1 billion mark in approving new grants, the Executive Director, Michel Kazatchkine, said after a meeting of the Fund’s Board in Kunming, China.

By IANS, London : Labour leader Gordon Brown, who is hoping to retain power, had lamb stew with his wife Sarah before leaving for the count. Sarah cooked Brown lamb stew as they relaxed at home in Kirkcaldy near Edinburgh, mirror.co.uk reported. Brown had started Thursday by voting at the North Queensferry Community Centre. He then spent a few hours with close aides. After the meal, Brown took a snooze before asking an aide to buy two Freeview boxes to watch all TV news channels at once. He left home just after midnight to go to the count.

New Delhi : Han Zheng, member of the politburo of the Communist Party of China and party secretary of Shanghai, is visiting India from...

New York : A US court Friday awarded life imprisonment to radical cleric Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, also known as Abu Hamza, who was found...

By Xinhua Buenos Aires : As many as 40,000 cattle were attacked by carnivorous piranha fish in the northern Argentine province of Formosa, the region's producers association Aprobae said in a statement. The focus of the attack is the 400,000-hectare Banado La Estrella area, 1,500 km north of Buenos Aries, home to 300,000 cattle. Thousands of the deadly fish have been trapped in the area by dams that have formed. They attack animals that come to drink the water, according to the Aprobae statement published Wednesday in local newspapers.

By IANS, Toronto : A top Indo-Canadian leader in the Canadian government has urged Sri Lanka to work for a political solution to the Tamil problem. Deepak Obhrai, who is parliamentary secretary to the Canadian foreign affairs minister, said in the nation's parliament Thursday that a long-term political solution is the only way out of the ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka.

By SPA, Arkansas, U.S.A : Violent storms unleashed tornadoes, high winds and hail in four central states and killed eight people in Arkansas, including a teenager who died when a tree fell into her bedroom as she slept. The storms late Thursday and early Friday ripped off roofs and toppled train cars near Kansas City, Mo.; pelted parts of Oklahoma with hail; and knocked over tents at a popular open-air market in east Texas. Severe thunderstorms were moving into Kentucky and could make for a wet Kentucky Derby on Saturday, the Associated Press reported.

By IANS Brasilia : A group of 820 indigenous Brazilians kept as slave labourers at a sugar firm in a town in the southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul have been freed by government officials, Spanish news agency EFE reported Wednesday. In a statement Brazil's Labour Ministry Tuesday announced the rescue of the workers from a sugar refinery firm located on the outskirts of Brasilandia town in Mato Grosso do Sul, which is considered one of the country's new agricultural frontiers.

CANBERRA, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos- Horta remained in a serious but stable condition after undergoing further surgery Wednesday morning at Royal Darwin Hospital, Xinhua said, quoting a report by Australian Associated Press (AAP). The president had been "in surgery this morning and he has come out of it," the AAP quoted the spokeswoman as saying in the hospital. "It's just more ongoing surgery... he has been operated on and he is still in a serious but stable condition," she added.

By IANS Colombo : Sri Lanka's army chief has said Tamil Tiger's chief Velupillai Prabhakaran may not survive for more than six months even as Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa hinted the guerrilla commander might have been killed in an air raid on his bunker late last month. "There is no assurance that the LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran will survive for the next six months. This is because the Sri Lankan Air Force has plans to attack all the LTTE bases in north Sri Lanka," Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka told the government-run Sunday Observer.

By IANS, Beijing : Top officials from Tibet pledged Friday to fight against the "Dalai clique" to ensure the stability of the plateau region.

By DPA Wellington : Six firefighters were seriously injured and several reported missing after a series of explosions set off a massive blaze at a factory near Hamilton, in New Zealand's North Island, Saturday, news reports said. Hamilton Hospital said it had received mass casualties and appealed for assistance from outside the city, channel TV3 reported. It showed film of a huge blaze said to be out of control at the Icepak Coolstores factory, which is next door to a school, and spreading to other parts of the suburb of Tamahere, about 10 km south of the city.

By DPA Washington : The year 2007 was good for technology fans. Whether you were largely desktop bound or constantly on the go, this year's technology products went some way towards making your life easier, more fun or more productive. But a few stood out - not necessarily because they broke new ground but because it was clear that their influence would be felt well into the future. Whether you own one of these products or not, it's likely that their presence will have an impact on how you work or play in the year to come. Windows Vista

By Xinhua Tokyo : One person was killed and over 40 others injured as a powerful typhoon made landfall early Friday near Tokyo. Another man was reportedly missing. A 76-year-old man hit by a tree died Thursday night, local rescue authority said. Another person went missing from Tokyo's suburb areas due to the Typhoon Fitow, which made landfall near Odawara, Kanagawa prefecture, around 2.00 a.m. Friday (17.00 GMT, Thursday).

By IANS/EFE,

By DPA, Beijing : A sudden burst of gas and coal killed 37 at a mine in thecentral Chinese province of Henan Sunday, one day after a fire killed at least 19 and left 12 missing at another coal mine, the government said. The accident occurred at the privately operated Xinfeng No.2 coal mine in Henan's Dengfeng city at about 1.30 a.m., the State Administration of Work Safety reported. Rescue workers had confirmed the death of 31 miners by mid-morning and were searching for 13 still missing underground, the administration said.

By IANS, Colombo : Even as 11 Tamil Tigers and two soldiers were killed in fresh clashes in Sri Lanka's northwestern district of Mannar, officials said President Mahinda Rajapaksa was keen on establishing a mechanism to protect civilians from terrorism. The defence ministry Tuesday issued a statement saying troops attacked and destroyed a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) bunker and killed six rebels in a gun battle southwest of Periyamadhu in Mannar Monday.

By KUNA, London : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was using an EU summit Wednesday to continue the drive to restore business and consumer confidence in financial markets, officials said.

By IANS New Delhi : Former British prime minister Tony Blair Thursday said if the developed world was ready to take a "really strong and definitive action" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then it was "fair to ask India and China" to do it. "If the developed world is prepared to take a really strong and definitive action for a substantial cut in emissions, then it is fair to ask India and China to do the same," Blair said at the launch of the climate initiative in India, Breaking The Climate Deadlock, here.

By DPA, New York : UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Saturday welcomed the agreement reached by the leaders of the Group of 20 nations to better regulate global financial markets. Ban praised "the agreement on the international coordination of stimulus packages, a move he had advocated in his remarks at the White House, also new market regulation to avoid future crises, more inclusive new economic governance, and the need to avoid trade and investment protectionism," his spokesperson said in a statement released in New York.

By IANS, Pretoria : Ebrahim Patel, a South African of Indian origin who was appointed as minister of economic development in the cabinet of President Jacob Zuma, has been active in the country's trade union movement for more than two decades. Before his appointment, he served as general secretary of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Worker's Union (SACTWU), one of the largest unions in the sector internationally, BuaNews reported Wednesday.

By DPA Tokyo : Japanese courts passed a record number of death sentences in 2007, a survey by Kyodo news agency showed Sunday. Some 46 people convicted for murders were sentenced to death by hanging last year, two more than the year before. It was the highest figure in almost 30 years. At least 106 people were in prison awaiting execution, the highest number since 1980. Nine people were hanged last year, also more than any year since 1980. Japan is one of the few industrialized countries to still carry out the death penalty.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Washington : The US has deployed some 300 more missiles than Russia, according to data published by the Department of State.

By IANS, Toronto : The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) turned bearish as the Wall Street jitters caused ripples in North America's third largest bourse. As major Canadian financial firms disclosed their exposure to the failed Lehman Brothers Wednesday, the S&P/TSX composite index lost 349.30 points, closing the day at 11,877.69 and pushing the bourse into a bear market. It was the lowest end for the bourse in two years. The composite index, which crossed the historic 15,000 mark for the first time in the 150-year TSX exactly three months ago, has slipped 21.19 percent since then.

By IANS,

By IANS, Washington : US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Michele Flournoy has decided to quit the job, the Pentagon said Monday.

By DPA, Tokyo : Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said Tuesday it would elect its new party president and successor to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who stepped down Monday, as soon as Sep 22. The LDP president would automatically become the nation's prime minister because the LDP and its coalition partner, the New Komeito party, hold an overwhelming majority in parliament's powerful lower chamber, Japan's House of Representatives.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow: Russia's military police force is already functional and formation of the new service will be completed in 2014, an official said.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By Prensa Latina, Harare : The Chief of Zimbabwe electoral Commission (ZEC) Lovemore Sekeramavi affirmed Saturday that a second round will be held for presidential election since none of the candidates obtained over 50 percent of the votes. Sekemavi confirmed the opposition leader from the Democratic Movement for the Change (MDC) Morgan Tsvangirai won with 47.9 percent of the votes against President Robert Mugabe with 43.2. "As no candidate obtained a vote majority a second round must take place on a date to be set by the Commission," noted the ZEC chief.

By EFE, Havana : Cuban leader Fidel Castro has met Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, the official Juventud Rebelde newspaper reported in an article that featured a photograph of both men standing and wearing white sport shirts. Castro and Correa had "a thorough exchange of impressions ... about the current revolutionary situation of both peoples in the search for greater social equity and justice", the newspaper said.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow: Thousands of Russian activists gathered in Moscow Sunday to hold a protest march against a law banning US nationals from adopting Russian children.

By Xinhua, Canberra : Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said here on Thursday his country would not be intimidated after its high commission in Fiji received its second death threat in just over a week. The high commission in Suva is reviewing security after a death threat through the mail on Thursday. "I regret to advise that our high commission has today received a second death threat against the high commissioner and his staff," Smith told parliament. "The Australian government believes these threats to be credible and is extremely concerned by that."

By IANS, New York : Sri Lanka's admission that it has used heavy weapons in areas crowded with displaced civilians underscores the need for an international inquiry into violations of the laws of war by government forces and the Tamil Tigers, Human Rights Watch has said. The Sri Lankan Presidential Secretariat conceded Monday: "Our security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy caliber guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian casualties."

By Xinhua, Quebec City, Canada : French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday they both support convening an international financial summit to discuss the current crisis by the end of the year. The two leaders made the remarks at a press conference after a summit between Canada and the European Union. Sarkozy is the 27-member EU's rotating president.