International

By DPA, Beijing : China has sentenced a well-known environmental activist and his daughter to "reform through labour" after accusing them of "endangering state security" by disclosing details of radioactive pollution from a uranium mine, rights groups said Friday. Sun Xiaodi, a former employee of the state-run Number 792 Uranium Mine in the northwestern province of Gansu, has campaigned for more than a decade to draw attention to pollution from the mine.

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who travels Tuesday to attend the 18th SAARC summit at Kathmandu, will be again meeting leaders of...

By IANS, Beijing : Infectious diseases led to the death of at least 1,419 people in China in July, the health ministry said Wednesday.

By IANS/EFE, Washington: The US is leaning toward scrapping a 1996 tomato accord with Mexico that has provoked complaints from growers in Florida, the Commerce Department said.

By DPA, Paris : Betrand Delanoe, mayor of the French capital, wants to make the Dalai Lama an honorary citizen of the city, a spokesperson for the mayor said Thursday. The move would be "to honour this fighter for peace and also to show fraternal solidarity with the Tibetan people," she said. During the tumultuous passage of the Olympic torch through the French capital earlier this month, a large banner was displayed at City Hall reading, "Paris defends human rights everywhere in the world."

By IANS,

By IANS, Toronto : Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has announced that the country would admit more immigrants next year. He said here Friday that Canada will admit up to 265,000 immigrants in 2009, up from 240,000 now. Listing 38 professions as a priority for immigration, the minister said Canada would prefer skilled professionals from areas such as finance, nursing and the oil industry. The skilled professionals from these areas, he said, could be admitted into Canada within six months to one year, as compared to the waiting period of up to six years now.

By IRNA, Berlin : German Chancellor Angela Merkel here Friday urged the intervention of the UN Security Council to force the Myanmar military junta to allow international aid for hundreds of thousands of victims of Cyclone Nargis. "From the point of view of the federal (German) government the UN Security Council has to deal with the issue," Merkel's deputy spokesperson Thomas Steg said at a weekly news conference in Berlin. Merkel was scheduled to phone with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon later in the day to discuss the situation in disaster-stricken Myanmar.

By DPA, Rome : Governments should avoid reducing aid to developing countries' agriculture and introducing protectionist trade measures in response to the global financial crisis, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Wednesday. Such steps could increase the risk of another food crisis occurring next year, Director-General Jacques Diouf of the Rome-based FAO said in a statement. Another food crisis "could happen despite the record 2008 cereal harvest which is now expected," the statement said.

By IANS, Brussels: There might be a moderate economic recession across Europe in the first half of 2012, a senior European Union (EU) official said Tuesday.

Moscow : The BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are major drivers for the global nuclear power industry was the unanimous...

By IANS, Washington : The pace at which African elephants are being slaughtered for ivory in spite of the 1989 ban is likely to make them extinct by 2020. The illegal ivory trade is being carried out mostly by large crime syndicates and is being driven by growing markets in China and Japan, where ivory is in demand for carvings and signature stamps called hankos. The public outcry that resulted in that ban is absent today, and a University of Washington (UW) biologist contends it is because the public seems to be unaware of the giant mammals' plight.

By IANS, Moscow: Moscow believes that solution regarding the Iranian nuclear programme is possible without military strikes, Xinhua reported.

By SPA United Nations : About 20,000 Mogadishu residents from Somalia are displaced every month and attacks, robbery and looting of relief supplies are putting humanitarian workers in difficult working conditions, the United Nations said on Wednesday United Nations spokesperson Michele Montas said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is seeing worsening conditions in the country.

By KUNA, London : The risks posed by employees linked to terrorist groups have been inadequately addressed by companies managing Britains infrastructure, according to government officials Monday. The risk of disruption to elements of Britains critical national infrastructure remains an important official concern three years after the attacks on Londons transport network that killed 52 commuters, the Financial Times (FT) newspaper said.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,

Kiev : At least 210 people has been killed since the start of the "active phase" of the Ukrainian government's anti-terror operation in eastern...

By SPA Monrovia : President George W. Bush arrived on Thursday in Liberia, the United States' staunchest ally in Africa, on the fifth and final stop of his visit to the world's poorest continent, Reuters reported. Air Force One, carrying Bush and his wife Laura, landed at Monrovia's Spriggs Payne airport. It was the first visit in 30 years by a U.S. president to Liberia.

By IANS,

By IANS, Amsterdam : Sea levels worldwide are expected to rise by several metres in the coming centuries if global warming continues unabated.

By IANS, London : Pop star Lady Gaga has collected $250,000 from the sales of a wristband she designed to raise money for Japan's earthquake victims.

By DPA, Geneva : World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan raised the pandemic influenza alert one level to phase 5 Wednesday night in Geneva in light of developments in the swine flu outbreak. Chan said all countries should activate pandemic flu plans and called on them to be on high alert for influenza-like illnesses and pneumonia. She also called on pharmaceutical companies to take "certain actions" with urgency and at an accelerated pace. Phase 5 indicates "human-to-human transmission in a sustainable manner causing community spread."

By Victor M. Carriba, Prensa Latina, Seville : Spain is focused on the defense of the Cuban Revolution Friday in Andalusia city with the opening of the 10th National Meeting of the Solidarity Movement with the Caribbean Island. The meeting unites solidarity groups from all over the country and will start on Friday night with a political ceremony to welcome the participants.

By Xinhua, Hong Kong : A strong earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale Saturday jolted the eastern Japanese coast of Honshu, the Hong Kong Observatory reported. The quake occurred at 10.35 GMT Saturday. The epicentre was initially determined by the Hong Kong Observatory to be at 36.6 degrees north latitude and 142.4 degrees east longitude, some 230 km southeast of Sendai, Japan. There were no immediate reports of casualty, the Observatory said in its evening bulletin.

By IANS/EFE, Mexico City : The bodies of 26 men were found inside two SUVs and an automobile abandoned on a busy avenue in Guadalajara, one of Mexico's largest cities, prosecutors said Thursday.

By DPA, Tokyo : The Hiroshima Bell of Peace tolled at 8.15 a.m. Friday, the exact moment 65 years ago when a US B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the city, killing tens of thousands of people in seconds and hundreds of thousands in the decades since. The first use of nuclear weapons against human beings wreaked unprecedented havoc in Hiroshima, a western Japanese city. By the end of 1945, some 140,000 people had died because of the bomb.

Colombo : Fourteen bodies have been found after a massive landslide hit central Sri Lanka, and authorities say more than 150 people remain missing. The...

By IANS, Washington : William Burns, former US ambassador to Russia, assumed Friday the post of deputy secretary of state.

By IANS, Valladolid (Spain) : A cloned fighting bull was born in Spain's central province of Palencia. The birth took place in the early hours Tuesday on a ranch near the town of Fromista, said sources close to the research team. The scientific landmark was made possible by a project led by the director of the team from the Valencia Veterinary Research Foundation, Vicente Torrent, and Rita Cervera. Cloning is the creation of an organism that is an exact genetic copy of another. This means that every single bit of DNA is the same between the two.

By IANS,

By Arun Kumar, IANS Washington : Vietnam war veteran John McCain is virtually assured of a Republican nomination in the US presidential poll as his main rival, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, has abruptly suspended his campaign. "I entered this race because I love America and because I love America, I feel I must stand aside for our party and our country," Romney announced Thursday at a convention of conservative activists, saying a protracted fight with McCain would only aid the Democrats.

By DPA, Jakarta : A ferry with 213 people on board sank off Indonesia's Riau islands Sunday after being battered by bad weather, killing at least one person, police said. Search teams are looking for survivors from the Dumai Express 10 which was sailing from Batam near Singapore to Dumai island in Riau when it ran into massive waves, Riau police chief Puji Hartanto. Hartanto told MetroTv that survivors were spotted floating in the sea.

By Anil Giri, IANS, Kathmandu : Nepal's newly-installed Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, in his first decision following assumption of office, Wednesday decided to take tough...

By Prensa Latina, Havana : Cuban President Raul Castro was welcomed at this capital's Houari Boumediene international airport by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Head of State of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, on an official visit. The Caribbean statesman said he feels very well meeting again with his Algerian peer, the Cuban TV prime-time newscast reported.

By IANS, Washington: The US Monday added Bank Tejarat, Iran's third largest bank, on its blacklist for sanctions, citing its links to the Islamic republic's nuclear bomb efforts.

Kiev: President Vladimir Putin's first visit to Crimea since Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in March was condemned by the US and European...

By DPA, Winnenden (Germany) : Investigators Thursday were trying to determine what prompted a German teenager to go on a shooting rampage at his former school, triggering a bloodbath that left 16 dead. Police confirmed the 17-year-old suspect, identified as Tim Kretschmer, had spent months playing violent computer games and engaging in target practice with air pistols and compressed air guns. "We have looked into the background of the offender and have found clues that could indicate a motive," police director Ralf Michelfelder said after an examination of the boy's computer.

By RIA Novosti, Washington : U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice starts a European tour on Monday with a visit to the Czech Republic to sign a missile shield agreement, and will later travel to Bulgaria and Georgia. The State Department said Rice would meet with senior Czech, Bulgarian and Georgian officials to discuss a wide range of bilateral and transatlantic issues on July 7-10.

By DPA,

Bangkok : Thai investigators are looking for three people they believe are involved in the murder of two British tourists on Koh Tao island,...

By IANS/AKI, Rome: Russia and Italy have agreed to set up a new nuclear plant in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave situated between Poland and Lithuania, around 320 km from the mainland. This was discussed Monday during talks held between Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Lesmo in Monza province. Executives from Italian power company Enel and Russian energy company Inter RAO signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on future projects including the nuclear plant.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS, Kathmandu : Nepal will hold its first ever presidential polls Saturday to find a successor to deposed king Gyanendra, who was the earlier head of state. The parliamentary committee entrusted with the election Tuesday fixed July 19 as the historic date. Though the exercise was to have taken place by Wednesday, due to the continued squabbling among the major parties over the post, it was deferred to Saturday. The delay will, in turn, put off the formation of a new government under the Maoists. The new government was expected to be announced by this week.

United Nations: The UN secretary-general's special representative for Somalia Wednesday condemned Tuesday night's attack on Villa Somalia, the seat of the Somali Federal Government...

By Xinhua Rome : Five US soldiers have been killed in a helicopter crash in northeastern Italy, according to the Italian News Agency ANSA. The US army helicopter from Aviano military base, with 11 people aboard, was on a training mission which involved embarking and disembarking on the pebbly bank of the River Piave near the village of Santa Lucia di Piave. According to Italian rescue services, the blades of the helicopter touched the ground during a tight turning manoeuvre, causing the aircraft to crash and burst into flames.

By IANS,

By IANS, Colombo : An alert conductor ordered passengers to quickly get off a bus here Tuesday after noticing a suspicious object, which later exploded injuring four people, the authorities said. A huge explosion rocked the bus at Horton Place in the posh Colombo 7 district around 1.50 p.m. Hospital sources said only four people affected by shock were admitted to the hospital. Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said a major disaster was averted when the conductor acted swiftly after observing a suspect parcel in the rear side of the bus of the Sri Lanka Transport Board.

United Nations:Almost half a million people across the world lost their lives in 2012 as a result of intentional homicide, with the highest murder...

By IANS, London : Self-esteem of overweight women deflates when they view pictures of models of any size, while the reverse happens in case of their underweight counterparts, says a new study. Authors Dirk Smeesters (Erasmus University, the Netherlands), Thomas Mussweiler (University of Cologne, Germany), and Naomi Mandel (Arizona State University) researched the ways individuals with different body mass indexes (BMIs-height to weight ratio) felt when they were exposed to thin or heavy media models.

By DPA, Taipei : A Taiwan court Friday sentenced scandal-tainted ex-president Chen Shui-bian to life for corruption, in a widely watched case dubbed by local media Taiwan's trial of the century. Chen was also fined 200 million Taiwan dollars ($6.09 million) and stripped of his civil rights for life, Judge Tsai Shou-hsin ruled. Chen, 58, who was president from 2000 to 2008, has been held at the Taipei Detention Centre since December on charges of corruption.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow : YouTube, the video-sharing website, has been take off the blacklist maintained by Russian media and communications watchdog Roscomnadzor.

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 Xinhua Bangkok : Thailand's Council for National Security chairman and last year's coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin Friday dismissed reports that he had been invited to lead Rak Chart political party to contest the elections late this year. His close aide Panlop Pinmanee had recently said that Sonthi would run under the Rak Chart banner. But Sonthi said the party had nothing to do with him.

By DPA, Colombo : The ruling party in Sri Lanka led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa appeared to be heading for a convincing victory in the parliamentary elections, officials said Friday. According to results announced by Friday morning, Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had recorded 1,368,047 votes or 62.73 percent. The United National Party, the main opposition party, had 598,405 votes or 27.44 percent.

By DPA Manila : Thousands of Filipinos attended a protest Mass Sunday to support a key witness in a corruption scandal that has intensified calls for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's resignation. The Mass, organised by Catholic groups and pro-democracy leaders, was held two days after some 10,000 people joined a rally in the financial district of Makati to call for Arroyo's ouster.

By IANS, London : Nearly half of the soldiers and officers of the British armed forces have considered quitting more than once due to poor pay and morale, a new study has revealed. The defence ministry carried out this survey for the first time and found over 47 percent saying they came to near quitting because they were paid less and their morale was low on account of poor equipment and transportation and extended foreign duties.

Kabul : The Islamic State terrorist group has asked people in parts of eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan to refer their problems to their...

By Joydeep Gupta, IANS Bali : Every school student knows trees take in carbon dioxide from the air to make food through photosynthesis. Now a group of scientists from India, South Korea and Australia have suggested that growing more seaweeds could help control global warming. Plus, they can provide biofuel.

By IANS,

By IANS, Washington : Getting a tan is a matter of radiation and geography as there is great variation of ultraviolet radiation, says a study. "The variation of ultraviolet radiation, especially in the middle and high latitudes is great," said Nina Jablonski, study author and professor of anthropology, who heads the Penn State's anthropology department. "Tanning has evolved multiple times around the world as a mechanism to partly protect humans from harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation," added Jablonski.

By IANS, London : A secret dossier on a TV debate strategy for Britain's Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, found in the back of a taxi, advises him to "speak more slowly" and use "shorter, simpler answers". The document shows that Clegg was coached to copy the style of Conservative Party leader David Cameron, The Sun reported Wednesday. The dossier, titled "I'm Not Here Right Now", was found after last week's first TV debate. "DC (David Cameron) talks a lot in the language of values. We need to do this," it said and warned Clegg to "avoid unilateral disarmament implication".

By IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, whose country is a pioneer in promoting green technologies, Friday virtually endorsed India's stand on climate change but hoped that all countries will come to an agreement by the year-end. "The Indian approach is very ambitious. It goes hand in hand with fighting poverty," Rasmussen told a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

By IANS,

By IANS Bogota : The military backed by gunships have killed 20 guerrillas of Colombia's largest insurgency group over the past week in a mountainous region southwest of the capital, EFE news agency reported Friday. Twenty guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were killed as a result of the ongoing army offensives launched last week after several soldiers died in a minefield laid by the group, Marta Lucia Padilla, an official in the western Tolima province said.

By DPA, Wellington: New Zealand police said Saturday they were hunting a prisoner who was nearly naked and handcuffed with his arms behind him when he escaped from custody by diving head first over a cliff. The man, named as Werimu Rangi Hauraki, had only some weed-matting wrapped around him when he got away while being taken to a police station in Whakatane, a seaside town on the east coast of the North Island. Police believe Hauraki, who has long dreadlocks, is hiding out in a local house.

By DPA, Brussels : The European Commission Thursday agreed to address concerns that scores of illegal immigrants may be marrying European Union (EU) citizens with the sole intention of achieving EU residence permits. But the EU's top justice official ruled out any changes to the bloc's freedom of movement directive, as requested by Denmark and a number of other member states. "This directive is one of the linchpins of the union," said Jacques Barrot. "We need to think twice before we should consider changing it."

By RIA Novosti, Moscow : Iran has started production of two domestically-developed missiles with enhanced armor-penetration capability, the Iranian media has reported. The Iranian state TV footage showed on Saturday the Qaem ground-to-air missile and the Toufan-5 anti-tank missile being test-fired at a shooting range during the inauguration of two production lines for these weapons.

By IANS, Beijing : The Chinese military has pledged support to ensure the realisation of the "Chinese dream", said authorities.

By DPA Mexico City : A mudslide in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, near its border with the state of Tabasco, has buried at least 60 houses and left at least 16 people missing, the Mexican interior ministry said. Unofficial reports gave a death toll of up to 30, according to the daily El Universal, which reported some 100 houses were buried, although there were no immediate official figures on fatalities and injuries.

By DPA Washington : US fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers that approached an aircraft carrier on the weekend over the western Pacific Ocean, a US Navy spokesman said. Four F/A-18s took off from the USS Nimitz as the Tupolev 95s neared the carrier. One of the Tupolevs flew over the Nimitz at an altitude of about 600 metres, said Mark Matsunaga, a spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet in Honolulu Monday. The bombers were each trailed by two F/A-18s, which picked up the course of the Russian planes as they neared the carrier fleet early Saturday, Matsunaga said.

By Xinhua, Islamabad : Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Sunday said Pakistan had no agreement with the US to allow its forces to carry out cross-border attacks inside the country’s territory. Referring to the cross-border missile attacks by the US, Gilani said the sentiments against America, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the West would rise if the US continued the strikes, private TV channel DAWN NEWS reported. He also said the Pakistani government would evolve a strategy to stop the strikes.

By SPA Canberra, Australia : North Korea can no longer afford its embassy in Australia and will close it at the end of January, an official said Tuesday. Pak Myong Guk, North Korean Embassy spokesman and Pyongyang's most senior representative in Canberra, blamed the decision on financial hardship created by flooding in his homeland. It is very expensive to stay here in Australia, Pak was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. When our financial situation is to be resolved, then I think our embassy will be re-established again here in Canberra, he said.

By IRNA London : Pax Christi, the Catholic-led international Christian peacemaking movement, was holding a silent vigil Thursday against the first lecture given by former prime minister Tony Blair on Faith and Globalization since stepping down from power last year.

By P. Karunakharan, IANS Colombo : Sri Lankan jets Monday carried out two air raids on a suspected fresh airstrip of the Tamil Tigers in their heartland in Mullaitivu in the island's north, the military said. "Air Force Kfirs and Mig-27s bombed an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) runway located 10 km west of Mullaitivu town at 9.45 a.m. and 10.30 a.m.," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. "The pilots have confirmed that they ... damaged it extensively," he said, giving no further details.

By DPA, Khartoum (Sudan) : The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has threatened to suspend deliveries of food aid to Sudan's Darfur province after a string of attacks on its convoys. "Repeated and targeted attacks on food convoys are making it extraordinarily difficult and dangerous for us to feed hungry people," said Monika Midel, WFP's Deputy Representative in Sudan, said in a statement. "Should these attacks continue, the situation will become intolerable, to the point that we will have to suspend operations in some areas of Darfur," she added.

By RIA Novosti, Moscow : An opinion poll said that 46% of Russians do not believe there is a need for a Russia-Belarus Union State, although the two countries should maintain good bilateral relations. According to the poll conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, some 50% of respondents believe that the former Soviet state is a friendly nation for Russia. However, last year only 39% of respondents thought that Russia and Belarus needed a union state.

By NNN-PTI Colombo : At least 67 Tamil Tigers and three soldiers were killed in fierce clashes in Sri Lanka's embattled northern region, officials here said today. Thirty LTTE cadres were killed by security forces in the north of Parappakandal in Mannar yesterday, the Defence Ministry said. According to Wanni military sources, Sri Lankan troops "successfully counter attacked an LTTE offensive movement towards the newly consolidated defences at Parappakanda," it said in a statement. Five soldiers also sustained injuries in the confrontation, military sources said.

TwoCircles Newsdesk

Spotlighting the current “crisis� in international efforts to address the world's nuclear arsenal, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on delegates attending a review conference in Vienna on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to demonstrate that progress is possible.

 

By DPA, Jakarta : An Indonesian photographer who has become an instant celebrity due to his resemblance to US President Barack Obama Wednesday said he would keep his day job despite offers to feature in TV commercials as an Obama double. Ilham Anas, 34, has appeared in a medication commercial in the Philippines and on a popular Indonesian comedy show playing Obama, but he said he expected his fame would be short-lived. "I may be a little bit famous now but when Obama fever dies down people will forget me," Anas told DPA.

By Prensa Latina Kiev : As Ukrainian communists organized protests Friday, the opposition Party of Regions proposed that Parliament approve an April referendum on the country's joining NATO. This faction of former Prime Minister Victor Yakunovich in the Supreme Rada proposes that any action regarding a virtual entry of Ukraine into the Western alliance must first respond to a national consultation.

By Prensa Latina Washington : The primary elections in the United States on Tuesday might answer the question of who has the best Democratic option to defeat Republic favorite John McCain. The Super Tuesday elections will also test the consolidation of the so-called "Obamania" against the surprising resurrection of the Arizona senator, according to analysts.

By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,

By DPA, Washington : President George W. Bush Wednesday called on the Congress to lift a decades-old ban on drilling for oil off the coast of US in order to address sky rocketing feul prices in the country. Bush said the federal ban was "outdated and counterproductive", threatening the US economy and national security as the country becomes more and more dependent on imported oil often from hostile foreign nations.

By DPA Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian police Tuesday detained at least 15 activists outside the Malaysian parliament during a pro-democracy public protest. Some 50 activists had defied a police ban on the demonstration and began gathering Tuesday in spite of heavy police presence and roadblocks across Kuala Lumpur. The demonstrators were attempting to submit a protest note over a government-backed plan to extend the tenure of the Election Commission chief, whom the opposition claims is biased.

By IANS,

By IANS, Istanbul: Turkey will not attend the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran later this month, local media Saturday cited Turkish diplomatic sources as saying.

By Venkata Vemuri, IANS, London : The British government's spending cuts are projected to result in 500,000 public sector job cuts between now and 2015 and the unemployment level expected to touch the three million mark. The employment group, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), has warned in a report that there was little prospect of real wage growth until at least 2015, and public sector workers faced pay cuts. The chancellor is expected to lay out sweeping cuts to try to trim the 156 billion pound deficit in his budget 22 June.

By Xinhua, Beijing : All the nuclear facilities in the earthquake-hit areas are safe and secure, a senior Chinese military officer said here Sunday. Ma Jian, deputy director of the Combat Department of the General Staff Headquarters of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), said the nuclear facilities have been put under strict protection after the quake May 12. "I could say in a responsible manner that all these facilities are safe and secure," Ma said at a press conference hosted by the Information Office under the State Council. "There is no problem at all," he said.

By NNN-UNNS, Kathmandu : The United Nations Electoral Assistance Office in Nepal is wrapping up after providing technical aid and advice to the country’s Election Commission for last month’s Constituent Assembly polls. “The role of the Electoral Assistance Office has ended,” Fida Nasrallah, Chief Electoral Advisor with the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), said Wednesday. She will deliver a final report in June based on the written reports of electoral advisors.

By IANS, Brussels : The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has called on the European Union (EU) and India to involve civil societies in their decision making processes. "In a democracy it is vital to listen to and acknowledge the views of civil society and to engage citizens in a society's vision," Madi Sharma, chair of the EU-India follow-up group on the EESC, told EuAsiaNews. The call comes ahead of the ninth EU-India summit to be held in French city of Marseilles Monday.

By DPA, Sydney : More than 30 towns in southeastern Australia were hit with record floods Sunday as the north of the country mopped up from devastating floodwaters.

By DPA, London : Britain's Prince Charles has warned against the industrial-scale development of genetically modified (GM) food in an unusually outspoken interview published Wednesday. Multinational companies developing GM crops were conducting a "gigantic experiment I think with nature and the whole of humanity which has gone seriously wrong", he told the Daily Telegraph. He especially warned against relying on "gigantic corporations" for food: "That would be the absolute destruction of everything ... and the classic way of ensuring there is no food in the future."

By DPA, Taipei : Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou Friday said he welcomes Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to visit, but only when the time is "appropriate." "When the timing is appropriate, we welcome him to visit Taiwan to engage in various religious activities because he has many worshippers in Taiwan," said Ma, in an attempt to pacify a growing outcry over his recent hint of declining to host the Dalai Lama. In a meeting with a group of Italian lawmakers, Ma said Taiwan welcomes all religious leaders to visit the island for religious activities.

By IANS,

By DPA, Manila : Eight people were killed and six injured Monday in a shooting spree by an unidentified gunman in a farming village outside the Philippine capital, the police said. The suspect attacked before dawn, firing an automatic rifle on two houses in Hornalan village in the outskirts of Calamba City in Laguna province, 60 km south of Manila. The victims, who belonged to two families, were sleeping during the attack, said provincial police director, Senior Superintendent Felipe Roxas Junior. Roxas said the fatalities included four children.

By IANS,

By Xinhua, Jakarta : An earthquake measuring 5.6 magnitude on the Richter Scale struck eastern parts of Indonesia on Thursday morning with no immediate report of damage or casualty yet, Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said here. The quake jolted at 07:44 Jakarta time (0044 GMT) with the epicenter at 109 kilometers southwest Saumlaki town of Maluku province and at 59 kilometers in depth, an official of the agency said. Indonesia sits at a vulnerable zone so called "the Pacific Ring of Fire" where two continental plates meet that cause frequent volcanic movements.

By IANS, New Delhi: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will arrive in Chennai Sunday afternoon on a four-day state visit, the highlight of which will be his attending the Republic Day parade here Jan 26 as the chief guest. Lee, along with a high-level delegation, would have his first engagement in Chennai, which has become a hub of Korean activity with Hyundai setting up its first automobile factory there in 1995. He will reach Delhi by a special aircraft in the evening.

By Gurmukh Singh, IANS, Toronto : A Sikh security guard, who says he was forced to remove his turban and wear a helmet on duty at a Home Depot retail outlet here, has sought $40,000 in compensation from the home furnishing giant. Home Depot is Georgia-based American home furnishing retail giant with outlets across North America. In his testimony before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal Commission here Tuesday and Wednesday, Deepinder Loomba also sought changes in workplace policies at Home Depot outlets to accommodate other religious beliefs.

By IANS,

By IANS, Kiev : At least two people were killed and three hospitalised at a Ukrainian steel plant Friday following a gas leakage, said authorities.

By IANS,

By Venkata Vemuri, IANS, London : Britain expects India to shortly ask yet again for the return of its artefacts allegedly looted during the colonial period and now showcased in various British museums. According to The Independent newspaper, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is compiling a list of the stolen riches before launching a "diplomatic and legal campaign" for their restitution from institutions, including the British Museum, the Royal Collection and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Vienna: The Austrian government Tuesday announced it would spend up to 290 million euros (about $335 million) in the fight against terrorism over the...

By IANS,

Kathmandu : Another strong aftershock of 5.7 magnitude with its epicentre near Kathmandu was felt on Saturday evening. Following the aftershock, thousands of people came...

By IRNA

New Delhi : Nepal will accord high priority to the friendship with neighbouring India and China, according to the government's policy paper for the fiscal year 2007-08.

According to the Annual Policies and Programs paper of Interim Government, Nepal will pursue the policy of attaching high priority to the friendship with India and China.

By IANS/EFE, Brussels : Spain Monday announced it would give 141 million euros (about $202 million) in aid to Haiti to undertake reconstruction work following last week's devastating earthquake in the country. Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who was in Brussels for a special European Union (EU) ministerial meeting on Haiti, said his government has already offered Haitian officials six million euros ($8.63 million) in emergency humanitarian aid, Xinhua reported.

By IANS, Sydney : Scientists have turned the ash waste from coal-fired power stations into a global environmental solution which promises to slash emissions in the carbon-hungry construction sector by at least 20 percent. The solution is soon likely to be seen in India, with its creators in the process of negotiating a manufacturing license in the country. Researchers at the University of New South Wales converted the pollution from coal furnaces, known as fly ash, into a new range of high-strength, lightweight building materials, ScienceAlert reported.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat, The self- respecting people of Nepal need to be congratulated for compelling the jingoist Indian media to ponder over its follies and idiocies in reporting the painful stories of earthquake from Nepal. The thing is that the reportage of TRP hungry TV channels is not new to us when they market our emotions and sentiments as these are the most ‘saleable’ products in our market apart from sex, rape, babas, tantra, cricket, corporate and Bollywood.

By IANS,

By DPA, Washington: 2010 could finish as the warmest year on record, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has said.

By Xinhua, Bangkok : Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej Sunday said he would not resign, despite massive street protests demanding his ouster. In his weekly talk show programme on national broadcasting service NBT, Sundaravej stressed that he had a popular mandate and would not bow to the demands by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), an anti-government civil group which besieged the Government House since Friday.

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By Bernama Danang (Vietnam) : The Asian region is not at risk of another financial crisis similar to the 1997 meltdown, a top International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said on Wednesday. Daniel Citrin, IMF's deputy director (Asia Pacific department), said the current situation was completely different from 11 years ago. He said the region's financial policy, fundamentals and fiscal situation are strong, with little exposure to the subprime crisis in the United States.

By Xinhua, Wellington : The chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) has confirmed Australia and New Zealand will be allowed to participate in ministerial meetings in Fiji next week, the Suva-based Pacnews regional news agency reported Wednesday. Tongan Prime Minister Fred Sevele said that Fiji's interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama was aware the Australian and New Zealand foreign ministers would be in Fiji next week to take part in the Ministerial Contact Group meeting on Fiji's progress toward elections.

By DPA, Colombo: Two separate court martial proceedings against Sri Lanka's former army chief Sarath Fonseka were postponed Tuesday over objections by his lawyers, officials said. General Fonseka, who ran as the opposition's candidate in Sri Lanka's January presidential elections, faces charges of "conspiracy against the government" and engaging in "fraudulent activities" while serving as the army commander. He has been in military custody since February 8.

By IANS, Santo Domingo : A former Olympic wrestler of the Dominican Republic has been shot dead by robbers here, Spain's EFE news agency reported. The incident took place in the Villa Juana neighbourhood Monday. Wilson Santiago Rojas was fatally injured when he went to the aid of a cousin who was attacked by robbers, the police said Monday. Authorities have yet to make any arrests in the case, which is being investigated. Rojas, a Dominican army officer, is survived by his wife and seven children, including a five-day-old baby.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow: Russia's Khrunichev space company has completed assembly of the Nauka ("Science") multirole laboratory module (MLM) for the International Space Station.

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By Prensa Latina, Beijing : It is necessary to prevent the outbreak of epidemics in the areas affected by the quake in Sichuan, where there are millions of homeless people, Chinese Health Deputy Minister Gao Qiang stressed. Health workers must be sent to each town and village to support preventive tasks and avoid outbreaks of infectious disease, the official pointed out. Gao made the statements during a coordination meeting in Chengdu, the provincial capital, aimed at facing the danger posed by the huge number of displaced people and interruption of drinking water networks.

By NNN-KBC Nairobi : Reports now confirm that Kenya Airways flight number 507 crashed immediately after take-off from Douala in Cameroun. It was due to arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 6:15am Saturday morning. The flight had 115 passengers on board with one flight engineer. Reports indicate that most of the passengers were enroute to other destinations but connecting through JKIA on the Kenya Airways flight. Insiders in the aviation industry say, emergency responses from the West African route have always been slow and poor.

By IANS, Stockholm : Harald zur Hausen of Germany, and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier of France Monday won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2008. "The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2008 with one half to Harald zur Hausen for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer and the other half jointly to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)," a statement issued by the Nobel Foundation said.

By IANS, Kathmandu : Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai Friday sacked Labor and Transport Management Minister Sarita Giri, a media report said.

By Xinhua, Johannesburg : The death toll in a week-long wave of xenophobic violence in South Africa rose sharply over the weekend as reports of people being burnt and beaten to death poured in from squatter camps around the business capital Johannesburg. The police said that 12 people were killed over the weekend as shack dwellers in one poor community after another turned on migrants living in their midsts, beating them, sometimes fatally, torching their homes and looting their possessions.

By IANS, Washington : Don't be too committed in romantic relationships or it might boomerang, leaving you depressed, anxious and fretful, warn experts. When one or both partners place too much emotional weight on their relationship, they tend to evaluate their self-worth solely based on the outcomes of their romantic interactions. This is what psychologists term as relationship-contingent self-esteem (RCSE) and, according to University of Houston researcher and assistant professor Chip Knee, it's an unhealthy factor in romantic relationships.

By DPA, Colombo : A volunteer doctor and a Red Cross worker were killed Wednesday in fighting in northeastern Sri Lanka as civilian casualties mounted in the region where government troops are fighting to end a 25-year insurgency by Tamil rebels, medical sources in the area said. The doctor and the Red Cross worker were killed in shelling in the Mullaitivu district but it was not clear who was responsible for the attack, the medical sources said.

By DPA, Hong Kong : Pressures over school work and broken hearts are the main reasons why Hong Kong teenagers commit suicide, a report published Wednesday said. Fourteen teenagers killed themselves in 2006 with 10 of the suicides being blamed on schoolwork and relationships. All but one of the 14 jumped to their deaths from high-rise buildings. The statistics are part of a review of child deaths being conducted by a panel of experts in the former British colony.

By RIA Novosti, BEIJING : China intends to double the number of nuclear power plants in the next decade, The China Daily reported on Wednesday, citing government sources. There are currently 11 nuclear power plants operational in the country with combined capacity of about 9 GW, supplying just 1.3% of the country's energy needs, the paper said.

By Prensa Latina, Harare : Original results of the parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe were confirmed Saturday by the Electoral Commission, after a recounting of votes in 13 of the 23 districts of the country. After several weeks of tension before the elections on March 29, the victory of the opposition over government ZANU-PF was ratified by Utoile Silaingwana, a spokesman from the Electoral Commission. The source said the recounting of votes has been done in 13 districts, and the result was the same as in theábeginning.

By IANS, Guwahati : An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter Scale shook India's northeast Monday, triggering panic among residents in the region that experienced the third tremor this month, officials said. An official at the regional seismological centre in Shillong, capital of Meghalaya, said the tremor was felt at 12.58 a.m. Monday and had its epicentre at the tri-junction of the borders of the Indian states of Manipur and Nagaland with neighbouring Myanmar.

By IANS, Washington : In a major victory, the US Senate has passed a sweeping financial regulatory bill, marking a milestone of the nation's biggest overhaul of financial regulations since the 1930s. The landmark legislation, which aims to reshape both Washington and Wall Street, was passed Thursday by a vote of 59 to 39, with a few Republicans crossing the aisle to join the vast majority of Democratic senators in support of the bill, Xinhua reported.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS, Kathmandu : Over 30 domestic and international rights organisations, including Unicef and Save the Children alliance, have flayed an ongoing protest in Nepal's southern Terai plains during which the organisers reportedly paraded a group of naked young boys. "In the name of protests, the Samyukta Sangharsh Samiti (SSS) that has been active in the Terai made 25 boys under the age of 14 parade through Jaleshwor town naked," Children are Zones of Peace (CZOP), a network of organisations working to protect child rights, said in a statement issued here.

Madrid : Russian hackers have exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows to spy on NATO, the Ukrainian government and companies in the energy and...