Indonesia: 11 missing after boat capsizes as strong waves batters coastal areas
By NNN-Antara
Jakarta : Rescue teams searched Friday for 11 missing people after a wooden fishing boat capsized in rough seas off Indonesia's Central Java province earlier this week, an official said.
Brebes district search and rescue team leader Ade Raharjo said rescuers, including navy divers and police, were still searching for survivors after the accident on Wednesday.
"We hope that the weather will be more calm today (Friday) to enable us to keep searching for the missing," he said, adding that bad weather hindered rescue efforts on Thursday.
UAE railway network to begin operation in 2013
By IANS
Abu Dhabi : A railway network connecting all states of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will start operating from the year 2013, according to media reports Wednesday.
Construction work of the first phase of the 800 km passenger and cargo rail network is expected to begin early next year, the WAM news agency said.The network - which will carry containers, dry bulk, cement, sand, rock, aggregates and petrochemical products - will ease road traffic congestion.
UNDP, Nokia to join forces for China earthquake recovery
By Xinhua,
Beijing : The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) have entered into a partnership to support rebuilding of southwest China's Sichuan province devastated by the May 12 earthquake, the UN agency said Thursday.
The two parties will cooperate in disaster recovery, with an emphasis on reconstruction, improving access to education and connecting rural communities.
First Russian navy ship returns to Ukrainian base
By SPA,
Sevastopol, Ukraine : The first Russian navy ship returned to base in the Black Sea on Friday from operations against Georgia.
A Reuters correspondent said about 100 Ukrainian protesters, brought by bus by a local party from a nearby town, marched through the Crimean port of Sevastopol as the Mirage, a small missile ship, returned.
Ukraine, which backed Georgia in a conflict with Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia, criticised Moscow for using ships from its Black Sea Fleet, which is based on Ukraine's Crimea peninsula under a leasing agreement.
Islamic organ commends Saudi for improving haj conditions
Rabat : The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) on Thursday commend Saudi Arabia's efforts to improve haj conditions.
"The great efforts, huge projects...
Dragonflies may provide alert system for water pollution
By DPA,
Singapore : Dragonfly young could soon be the aquatic version of the canary in a coalmine, a researcher said in a published report Sunday.
Just as the singing birds were used by miners to warn them of toxic air, young dragonflies that live in reservoirs and ponds hold the potential of alerting humans to water pollution, The Straits Times said.
US stocks gain as surprising earnings overshadow GDP report
By DPA,
New York : US stocks posted strong gains Wednesday as most companies that reported profits for the first quarter beat estimates on the day, drowning out reports of a sharp contraction in the US economy over the first three months.
Time Warner, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, DreamWorks Animation SKG and Hess Corp all beat analysts' expectations, offering some hope that the worst may be over and driving all major US stock indices up by more than 2 percent.
Scientist rescued in Russia after SOS call picked up in Scotland
By IANS,
London : A British scientist who broke her leg after falling from her horse in a remote nature park in Russia has been airlifted to safety after her distress call was picked up by Scottish rescuers, some 3,700 miles away from the accident site.
Thai `red shirt’ anti-government protest called off
By DPA,
Bangkok : The three-week anti-government protest that has caused widespread violence Bangkok is over, Veera Musikapong, a leader of the so-called "red-shirt" protesters said Tuesday.
Veera said the mass protest was being called off to "save the lives of innocent people", following an army crackdown that began Monday.
Nepal Maoists not to form new government
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Nepal's historic first presidential election has opened a pandora's box with the defeated Maoist party Tuesday announcing that they would not form the new government but sit in opposition.
In yet another twist to Nepal's political drama, the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), the debutant party from the Terai plains that emerged as a kingmaker, said they would stake claim to forming a coalition government backed by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML).
Death toll in Haitian school collapse rises to 92
By Xinhua,
Mexico City : At least 92 people have been killed and 150 others injured in the collapse of a church school in the suburbs of Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, media reported Saturday.
Search for survivors in the remains of the College La Promesse is still underway, according to reports reaching here from Port-au-Prince.
Two girls and two boys aged from three to 13 years were rescued alive from under ruins of the three-storied building Saturday, bringing the number of survivors to 35.
Obama hails Iraq vote as “step forward”
By ANTARA,
Washington : US President Barack Obama praised Iraq`s provincial elections on Saturday as an "important step forward" for the future of the country.
"This important step forward should continue the process of Iraqis taking responsibility for their future," Obama was quoted by AFP as saying in a statement after millions of Iraqis went to the polls to elect councils in 14 or Iraq`s 18 provinces.
Apartheid South Africa prepped me for role of UNHCHR: Pillay
By DPA,
Johannesburg : Newly-appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Naventhem Pillay said Wednesday living under apartheid in her native South Africa had given her a first-hand taste of human rights abuses.
Pillay, 67, will take over the post of commissioner Sep 1 for a four-year term, replacing Louise Arbour, a former Canadian Supreme Court justice.
France to inject $14 bn into six major banks
By DPA,
Paris : France will inject 10.5 billion euros ($14 billion) into the country's six biggest banks in an effort to provide capital for business and consumer lending, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde announced late Monday.
The government is to subscribe to subordinated debt issued by the six banks but will not gain voting rights.
In all, Paris could eventually inject 40 billion euros into the financial system by this method, as part of the 360-billion-euro rescue package forged earlier in October.
Death toll from Mexico mudslide rises to six
By IANS
Mexico City : The death toll from the mudslide that hit the southern Mexican town of San Juan de Grijalva earlier this week has risen to six, with more than 20 people still missing, the Spanish news agency EFE has reported.
So far, 1,500 people have been moved into shelters after a hillside collapsed into the Grijalva River raising a huge wave that inundated the town, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova told reporters Thursday.
30 die as LTTE attacks Sri Lankan air base
By DPA
Colombo : An air force base in north-central Sri Lanka was hit by a combined air and ground attack by Tamil rebels early Monday, and a helicopter pursuing the rebels crashed, claiming the lives of the pilot, co-pilot and two gunners, military officials said.
They said six more security personnel and at least 20 rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in clashes at the camp.
UN workers’ toll in Haiti Quake reaches 94
By RIA Novosti,
United Nations : The number of UN workers killed in last month's earthquake in Haiti has reached 94, while eight of its staff remained unaccounted for, a spokesman for the UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon said.
The UN headquarters in the Christopher Hotel was levelled in the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince Jan 12, killing over 212,000 people and leaving more than 1 million homeless.
Four Rio Tinto employees held in China
By Xinhua,
Beijing: Four employees of the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto have been arrested on charges of trade secrets infringement and bribery, according to a statement of China's Supreme People's Procuratorate said Tuesday.
The arrested included Stern Hu, general manager of the company's Shanghai office, who was also in charge of the iron ore business in China, the statement says.
The detentions has strained ties between Australia and China and raised doubts that the company's $10 billon sales in the Asian country could be jeopardised.
Extradition of British terror suspects to US halted
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London:The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Thursday stopped the extradition of four British terror suspects, including radical cleric Abu Hamza, to the US.
The court in Strausbourg, France, gave a similar decision in the case of other suspects Babar Ahmed, a British Muslim who is the country's longest serving prisoner without charge since his arrest after an American extradition warrant in 2004, Haroon Aswat and Syed Ahsan.
Russia set to continue prohibitive grain export duties
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The Russian government plans to extend prohibitive export duties on grain until July 1, 2008, Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev told the press on Thursday.
"We are planning to extend the duties until July 1, when the new grain year starts," the minister said.
The government earlier fixed export duties on barley and wheat at 30% and 40%, respectively, rates that were set to expire in late April.
For Abe, its business in Delhi and spirituality in Varanasi
By Mohit Dubey
Varanasi : With bilateral talks and business meetings wrapped up in New Delhi earlier in the day, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe...
Indian community doubts allocations in Malaysia budget
Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysia government's claim of allocating $800 million (RM2.89 billion) for the Indian community during 2012-2014, was under the scanner of the...
US, South Korea launch new round of naval drills
By DPA,
Seoul : US and South Korean warships Monday kicked off a round of anti-submarine drills aimed at showing strength against Stalinist North Korea.
France Nixes Muslim Tombs Desecration
By Prensa Latina
Paris : The desecration of 148 tombs of Muslim French soldiers who served in World War I overnight by unknown individuals in the military cemetery of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette has been widely condemned by several French sectors, who term it as most unacceptable racism and demand severe sentences.
As dead as Naipaul’s fiction: Nobel laureates cross swords
By IANS,
London : Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul has attracted many controversies and enthusiastically engaged himself in many literary duels, but the latest has another Nobel winner targeting him - in rhyme.
The attack comes from Derek Walcott, based in St Lucia in the West Indies, who is often acclaimed as the greatest living English-language poet.
His new poem, "The Mongoose", is a "fast-paced, savagely humorous demolition of Naipaul's work and personality", reported the Guardian.
Courtroom trial tells on India-Myanmar relations
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
The trial of the infamous 1998 ‘Operation Leech’ in Kolkata court is turning out to be a public relations disaster for New Delhi. This is crucially at a time when several big business deals with Myanmar's military junta hang in the balance.
‘Operation Leech’ refers to Indian intelligence sting operation capturing 34 Myanmar nationals in Andaman’s Landfall Island on February 8, 1998.
The Army’s version says they captured an "international gang of gun smugglers" waging a war against the nation.
UN calls for peaceful parliament polls in Maldives
Male : UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern about the situation in the Maldives following a decision of the island nation's Supreme Court...
Partial recount of votes in Zimbabwe election underway
By DPA,
Harare/Johannesburg : A controversial recount of votes cast in last month's Zimbabwean elections, in which opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is claiming victory over incumbent President Robert Mugabe, got underway Saturday in the presence of regional observers.
The recount is of votes cast in 23 out of 210 constituencies, both for president and the lower house of parliament (House of Assembly).
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change won the parliamentary vote but the official results of the presidential election, also held March 29, have not yet been released.
US accepts international help for oil cleanup
By DPA,
Washington : The US agreed Tuesday to accept help from the dozens of nations and international groups that have for weeks offered their assistance to collect oil in the Gulf of Mexico, the State Department said.
The US said it will accept offers from 22 countries and 12 international bodies for containment booms to halt the spread of oil and skimmers to collect it from the water.
Sri Lankan Tamil held in Canada for war crimes
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : A Tamil asylum seeker has been arrested in Canada for war crimes.
China’s GDP up 6.1 percent in first quarter
By Xinhua,
Beijing : China's economy expanded by 6.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, official data showed Thursday.
The quarterly growth rate was the lowest in 10 years as the global financial crisis continued to affect the world's fastest-growing economy.
It was 4.5 percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2008 and down 0.7 percentage points from the previous quarter.
Gross domestic product (GDP) reached 6.5745 trillion yuan ($939 billion) in the first quarter, Li Xiaochao, spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said at a press conference.
IMF pledges ‘multi-year’ support for Greece
By DPA,
Washington : The International Monetary Fund Sunday greeted the $40-billion financial support package for Greece sealed in Europe, and reaffirmed its readiness to offer added support if need be.
"The IMF stands ready to join the effort, including through a multi-year stand-by arrangement, to the extent needed and requested by the Greek authorities," IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.
Strauss-Kahn said the agreement among the euro area finance ministers, the European Commission and the European Central Bank marked "a very important step".
Tony Blair could be Europe’s first president
By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : In a move that appeared to soften up British Euro-sceptics, former prime minister Tony Blair could be installed as the first president of the European Union (EU) following a campaign by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"He is a remarkable man, the most European of all the British," Sarkozy said Friday night, adding that he and Blair, who quit as prime minister earlier this year, had discussed the proposal over a meal in Paris this week.
US sends first ambassador to Libya in 36 years
By DPA,
Washington : The US Senate has approved sending the first US ambassador to Libya in 36 years, the final step in warming relations between the one-time enemies.
"We're very pleased, very pleased," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday.
But Gene Cretz, the veteran US diplomat confirmed by the Senate, could have a very short-lived tenure as ambassador to Libya. President-elect Barack Obama has the opportunity to change any US ambassadors he sees fit when he enters office on Jan 20.
The Senate confirmed Cretz's appointment late Thursday night.
The kilogram is losing weight!
By IANS
New York : The kilogram is losing weight and many international scientists believe it is time to redefine it!
The kilogram is based on the International Prototype Kilogram (IPK) - or the "Le Grand K" - a bar of platinum-iridium alloy made in the 1880s and kept in a vault near Paris.
Of the seven units of measurement in the International System, the kilogram is the only base still defined by a physical object.
And copies of the IPK have changed over time by either gaining or losing weight as compared to the standard kilogram.
APEC plans to build “protection line” against financial crisis
By Xinhua,
Trujillo, Peru : The 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum are planning to build a "protection line" against international financial crisis, said Peruvian Vice Minister of Finance Eduardo Moron on Monday.
The current global financial crisis and price volatility of food prices at regional and global levels top the agenda of a two-day meeting of Vice Financial Ministers of APEC which began on Monday in Trujillo, northwestern Peru.
US Senate panel passes Ukraine aid bill
Washington: The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday approved a bill which would grant loan assistance to crisis-stricken Ukraine and ratify reform measures for...
Nepal to tell its story on 10th anniversary of IA hijack
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : A decade after the stunning hijack of an Indian Airlines (IA) aircraft on way to New Delhi from Kathmandu and the brutal killing of a passenger by terrorists, Nepal, whose economy was devastated by the incident, is ready to narrate its own version of the disaster.
Change has come to America: Barack Obama
By IANS,
Chicago : "Americans have sent a message to the world," Barack Obama, the man who would be the United States' first African American president, said Wednesday to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands here.
In an emotional speech, Obama began by saying: "If there is anyone out there that still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible... who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."
He said it was the answer told "by lines that stretched around schools and churches..." as they waited for hours to vote.
Bush rejects criticism over DPRK nuclear issue
By Xinhua,
Washington : U.S. President George W. Bush rejected on Saturday suggestions that he is softening American stand on the policy toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), saying he would not accept a deal that damaged the interests of the region.
Speaking to reporters after his talks with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak at the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland, Bush said that "Obviously, I'm not going to accept a deal that does not advance the interests of the region."
Tsunami less likely, says expert
By IANS,
London : The nature of the massive earthquake that struck off Indonesia Wednesday makes it "less likely to produce a destructive tsunami", an expert said.
Fidel Castro Sends Message to China Hospital
By Prensa Latina,
Chengdu, China : Cuban leader Fidel Castro sent a message to Hospital No. 1 of Chengdu, province of Sichuan, saying this country can count on the island"s medical brigade the necessary time.
The brigade"s chief Jose Rodriguez gave Li Yan the message during a meeting Tuesday with Li Yaun Feng, director of the hospital center.
The Revolution leader also stated the hospital"s authorities that Cuba has a well-prepared medical staff, eager to support the Chinese brother people of the Chengdu region if the government considers it advisable.
Sheen, Mueller reach agreement over kids’ custody
By IANS,
New York : Actor Charlie Sheen and his estranged wife Brooke Mueller have reached an agreement over the custody of their twin sons.
Voting begins in Serbia’s crucial poll
By DPA,
Belgrade : Voting started Sunday in Serbian snap parliamentary elections with the country's course to European Union (EU) membership at stake.
The 6.75 million registered users are to choose from 22 tickets, but the crucial choice is between the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and President Boris Tadic's pro-EU Democratic Party (DS), both tipped to win close to one-third of ballots cast.
70 percent Chinese were happy in 2011
By IANS,
Beijing : As many as 70 percent of Chinese felt happy this year, a survey showed.
Canada trying to discredit Kanishka testimony?
By IANS
Toronto : The head of the inquiry commission probing the 1985 bombing of Air India's Kanishka plane has accused the Canadian government of trying to undercut Ontario lieutenant governor James Bartleman's startling testimony about what transpired in the days leading up to the terror attack.
Poles vote in presidential run-off
By DPA,
Warsaw : Poles went to the polls Sunday in a presidential run-off vote held early to find a successor to Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash in April.
Voter frequency was at 2.52 percent by 8 a.m., two hours after the polls opened Sunday, said the state electoral commission at a press conference.
Some 30.5 million eligible voters were set to cast their ballots at around 25,000 polling stations countrywide in the runoff that follows a first round of voting June 20, in which no candidate secured a majority.
World well prepared against bird flu pandemic: UN
By DPA,
New York : The world is well prepared to beat back any major bird flu pandemic with 148 countries having made contingency plans to deal with the disease, the United Nations and the World Bank said Tuesday.
"Considering that pandemic preparedness was largely unaddressed by the world's nations three years ago, the widespread awareness and action seen today is a major achievement," said David Nabarro, the UN system influenza coordinator.
Hundreds dead or missing in DPRK after heavy rains
By Xinhua
Pyongyang : Hundreds of people are dead or missing and thousands of houses have been destroyed as a result of continued heavy rains in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the official KCNA news agency said Tuesday.
Up to Sunday, the heavy rains had left "hundreds of persons dead or missing and destroyed more than 30,000 houses for over 63,300 families," KCNA said.
"The torrential rain that hit the DPRK from Aug. 7 has persisted, causing huge human and material damage," said KCNA.
Rebellion turns stigmatised practice into style icon
By IANS,
Washington: Why are increasing numbers of Turkish women wearing veils in a secular country where the practice is banned in public buildings?
Study authors �zlem Sand and G�liz Ger at Bilkent University, Turkey, said much like the first few people who began wearing blue jeans or getting tattoos, adopting this "stigmatised" fashion signifies independence from social secular norms.
Number of drug addicts in Russia reaches 2.5 mn: Official
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Up to 2.5 million Russians, including 140,000 minors, are drug addicts, an official said Tuesday.
"The overall number of drug addicts in our country is between 2 and 2.5 million people between the ages of 18 and 39," said Viktor Ivanov, the head of the Federal Drug Control Service.
"There are more than 140,000 minors registered in rehabilitation centres who are suffering from drug addiction."
Coal mine blast in east China leaves 43 miners trapped – agency
By RIA Novosti,
Beijing : Forty-three miners were left trapped underground after a coal mine blast in northern China Shanxi province on Friday, news agency Xinhua reported.
The blast occurred at about 11 a.m. local time in the Anxin mine in the city of Xiaoyi. A total of 58 people were working underground at the time of the blast, of whom 15 have been rescued, the agency said, citing local officials.
EU foreign ministers to discuss deal with Serbia
By RIA Novosti
Brussels : Foreign ministers of the European Union's 27 member states will hold discussions on Monday on whether to sign a trade pact with Serbia opening up the Balkan country's path to EU membership.
The talks come at a critical time for Serbia, with a pro-European and a pro-Russian candidate set to face off in a second presidential election round, and the country's breakaway province of Kosovo likely to declare its independence within weeks.
1,200-year-old royal tomb found in Peru
By IANS/EFE,
Lima : The 1,200-year-old tomb of a ruler of the pre-Incan Sican culture has been found in Peru's Lambayaque region, an official said.
Tibetan capital to monitor vehicle emissions
By Xinhua
Lhasa (Tibet) : Tibet's regional administration Thursday said it would begin monitoring vehicle emissions in the capital soon in the wake of the growing number of cars.
The plan is part of China's first national survey of sources of pollution in the region, environment chief Zhang Yongze said.
The number of private cars in Lhasa is growing by about 50 a day, according to the city's vehicle administration. It said Lhasa, with a population of 400,000, had 70,000 motor vehicles, including 58,100 private cars.
One out of every 30 children in US is homeless
Washington : One out of every 30 children in the US is homeless, the highest rate in history and one that is due to...
President greets Saudi Arabia on its National Day
New Delhi : President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday extended his greetings to the King and people of Saudi Arabia on the occasion of their...
Russia, Armenia sign uranium production, enrichment deals
By RIA Novosti
Yerevan : Armenia signed an agreement to join an international uranium enrichment center in Siberia during a visit to the Caucasus state by the Russian premier on Wednesday.
The center, part of Moscow's non-proliferation initiative to create a network of enrichment centers under the UN nuclear watchdog's supervision, will be based at a chemicals plant in Angarsk, Siberia. The center will also be responsible for the disposal of nuclear waste.
Political parties in Nepali capital file their candidacy under FPTP system
By NNN-Xinhua
Kathmandu : Candidates representing Nepal's major political parties filed their nominations for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) elections under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system for different constituencies in Kathmandu district on Monday.
Oil rig sinks two days after blast, 11 still missing
By IANS,
Washington : The US Coast Guard said Thursday an oil rig that has been burning for the past two days has sunk in the Gulf of Mexico and authorities are still searching for 11 workers who have been missing since an explosion ripped through the rig.
Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry said the Deepwater Horizon rig sank Thursday. The platform has been burning since Tuesday night, Xinhua reported.
Holbrooke telephones Zardari, Mullen meets Pakistani top brass
By IANS,
Islamabad : US special envoy Richard Holbrooke Thursday telephoned Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to discuss the ongoing war against terror as America's top military commander continued his meetings with senior military officers here.
According to a presidential spokesman, Zardari and Holbrooke, the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, also discussed the regional situation and the president's visit to the US next month.
Despite gain of 162,000 jobs, US unemployment rate steady
By DPA,
Washington : The US economy added 162,000 jobs in March, the most since the start of a recession more than two years ago, but the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent, the Labour Department said Friday.
The improvement included gains in manufacturing and construction sectors that have been hardest hit by the economic crisis. Temporary government hiring for the 2010 population census also helped push up the figures.
UK lecturers barred from boycotting Israel
By IRNA
London : British lecturers are told not to implement an academic boycott of Israel after the leadership of the University and College Union (UCU) said it had received legal advice that it would be unlawful.
"It would be beyond the union's powers and unlawful for the union, directly or indirectly, to call for, or to implement, a boycott by the union and its members of any kind of Israeli universities and other academic institutions," the advice said.
Novel method to speed up output of aircraft engines
By IANS,
London: Complex-shaped components in aircraft engines can be produced quickly and at a reasonable price using selective laser melting, a new study says.
Aircraft engine components must perform under extreme conditions. They must rotate more than 1,000 times in a single second, withstanding temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius and extreme pressures.
At the same time, they should be as lightweight as possible and yet satisfy the most stringent standards for safety.
Indian Americans condemn Saudi award for Prime Minister Modi
Award defies logic given Modi’s record before and after taking office as Prime Minister
By TCN News,
Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), an advocacy...
Ecuador to boost renewable energy on Galapagos Islands
By Xinhua
Quito : Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has proposed to free the country's Galapagos Islands from polluting fuels by 2015 and boost wind power generation capacity.
Ecuador has launched the wind farm project a few months ago with three 800 KW turbines, whose power would allow San Cristobal, the archipelago's second most populous island with 6,100 residents, to halve its use of diesel power.
The Galapagos Islands are home to 19,000 people and a host of unique species. It also has the country's largest wind farm.
Mexico nabs most wanted drug cartel member
By EFE,
Mexico City : Mexican authorities have arrested a key member of the country's most ruthless drug cartel during a raid in the northeastern border city of Matamoros, the public safety secretariat said Thursday.
Federal police officials managed to locate the whereabouts of Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, one of the top members of the notorious Gulf cartel, at a home in that city's Tlaxcala district.
Nine Britons trying to enter Syria detained in Turkey
Ankara: Nine British nationals trying to illegally enter the conflict-ridden Syria through Turkey have been detained, and handed over to judicial authorities, Turkish officials...
10 killed in heavy rains in France
By DPA,
Paris : At least 10 people have died and four were missing Wednesday after heavy rains lashed parts of southern France, French media reported.
All of the fatalities occurred in the south-eastern region of Var, where some 200,000 households were without electricity early Wednesday.
According to France Info radio, more than 400 people had to be rescued by helicopter from their homes. In addition, travellers were stranded in railway stations and roads were littered with abandoned automobiles due to the swiftly rising floodwaters.
Sri Lankan Air Force bombs LTTE leader’s hideout
By Xinhua
Colombo : The Sri Lankan military said its air force bombed a hideout of Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran in the north Wednesday and it believed he was there when the bombing took place.
The Media Center for National Security said the bombing occurred at about 11.15 a.m. at Iranamadu, in an area bordering the northern districts of Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi.
Air force spokesman Andi Wijesoriya said the air sorties were carried out with pinpoint accuracy on information obtained through real-time air surveillance and ground reconnaissance.
Trailing McCain turns to star power on homestretch
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : With opinion polls still giving an edge to Democrat Barack Obama, Republican rival John McCain deployed star power in the crucial state of Ohio as he claimed the tide was now turning in his favour.
On a bus tour of the midwestern state that has been crucial to Republican victories in the last two presidential elections, McCain Friday brought along California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred in many action movies before turning to politics.
UK faces ‘dangerous’ £37bn defence deficit, Fox warns
By IRNA,
London : Britain’s coalition government is having to deal with a "dangerous deficit" in the country’s defence budget and drastic reforms are needed, Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, warned on Friday.
Fox said that changes would be "difficult and painful" and suggested that the number of senior military officers could be cut to help fill the "unfunded liability" of £37 billion ($57bn) over 10 years left by the previous Labour government.
Dengue kills at least 67 people this year in Philippines
By SPA
Manila : At least 67 people have died from dengue in the first three months of 2008 in the Philippines, up 36 per cent from the same period last year, the health department said Tuesday.
A total of 6,653 people were afflicted with dengue from January to March 2008, compared to 5,453 cases in the same period in 2007, the Department added.
In the same period in 2007, 49 people died from the disease, DPA reported.
Beatification of war martyrs sparks controversy in Spain
By DPA
Madrid : Spanish bishops are preparing what is being described as the largest-scale one-day beatification ceremony in the history of the Catholic Church.
The ceremony, scheduled for Oct 28 in the Vatican, will beatify 498 Catholics who were killed by anti-clerical leftists before and during Spain's 1936-39 Civil War.
Leftist media claim it is not a coincidence that the beatifications will follow the preliminary approbation of a law condemning the repressive policies of General Francisco Franco, whose uprising sparked the war.
US school closed after teacher finds loaded gun
By IANS,
Washington: An elementary school in the US state of Oklahoma was briefly locked down after a teacher found a loaded gun in his chair, media reports said.
UN condemns Embassy arson attack
By IRNA
Belgrade : The United Nations has condemned the Serbian protesters who stormed US embassy and set it on fire, leaving one person dead.
The United States has ordered all non-essential staff to leave Belgrade after the American embassy was set alight by rioters in the Serbian capital.
Some 200,000 people had rallied in the city to demonstrate against Kosovo's independence when dozens of protesters, many wearing balaclavas, attacked the building.
A crowd of about 1,000 cheered "Serbia, Serbia" as one ripped the US flag off its pole and others jumped up and down on a balcony.
New limits to Antarctic tourism
By IANS,
London : Countries with ties to Antarctica have adopted US proposals to limit tourism in the region, in a bid to protect the fragile ecosystem of the continent, BBC reported Saturday.
Parties to the Antarctic Treaty agreed to limit the size of cruise ships and the number of tourists taken ashore at a meeting in the US city of Baltimore.
Limiting tourism has taken on urgency due to a surge in visits and a number of cruise ship accidents.
Antarctic visits have risen from 6,700 in 1992-93 to over 45,000 last season.
20 dead in Mexico bar attack
By IANS,
Mexico City : Twenty people were killed and five others were injured when gunmen opened fire in a bar in northeastern Mexico, Xinhua reported.
Oracle sales down as businesses tighten belts
By DPA,
San Francisco : Business software maker Oracle reported a 5 percent decline in quarterly revenue Wednesday as businesses held off on buying new software.
The Silicon Valley company said its sales dropped to $5.1 billion, but the company managed to increase profits by 8 percent to $1.1 billion, compared to $1.07 billion in the year-ago quarter.
The company said that sales of new software sank 17 percent to $1 billion, but were offset by a rise in software updates and product-support revenues of 6 percent to $3.1 billion.
Koirala willing to declare Nepal a republic: report
By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : The paralysis gripping Nepal's fragile peace process for nearly three months could be easing with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala finally agreeing to abolish the kingdom's two century old institution of monarchy and declare Nepal a republic, according to the Maoists.
Port-of-Spain readies to welcome Commonwealth leaders
By Paras Ramoutar, IANS,
Port-of-Spain : Hundreds of billboards and welcome signs have sprung up in this capital city as Trinidad and Tobago prepares to welcome Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and 51 other leaders at the opening Nov 27 of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting(CHOGM) at an $80 million conference centre built by a Chinese firm.
The government has also announced a special drainage project to ensure that no flooding takes place in the city.
177 Indonesians bound for Haj detained in Manila with fake passports
Jakarta : A group of 177 Indonesians were detained in the Philippines on Saturday after attempting to board a flight to Saudi Arabia...
Passengers stranded at China airport
By IANS,
Beijing : Thousands of passengers have been stranded at a Chinese airport as heavy rainstorms caused cancellation and delay of several international flights in the last two days.
According to Xinhua, 9,000 passengers were waiting at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport in southwestern Sichuan province, where 11 flights were cancelled and almost 100 flights delayed Sunday.
Saturday, more than 200 flights were delayed and about 20 flights were cancelled, causing inconvenience to over 10,000 passengers.
Immigrant Muslim woman to be the first hijab-wearing senator in Australian parliament
Fatima Payman is an Afghan-Australian woman whose family fled Afghanistan in 1999 to settle in Australia.
Basil Islam | TwoCircles.net
NEW DELHI — Labor Party candidate...
National holiday in Kenya on Obama victory
By DPA,
Nairobi : Kenyans took to the streets early Wednesday morning to celebrate Barack Obama's election to the White House as the nation's president declared a national holiday.
In downtown Nairobi and in Kibera, one of Africa's largest slums, people dressed in suits on their way to work joined those who had stayed up all night watching the election returns to dance and chant Obama's name.
Similar excited scenes took place in Kogelo, western Kenya, where many of Obama's Kenyan relatives had gathered at the home of his grandmother, Sarah Obama.
China’s phone users top 1.1 bn
By IANS,
Beijing : The number of Chinese phone users continued to grow rapidly in the first five months of the year, surpassing 1.1 billion by the end of May, authorities said Tuesday.
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) figures showed that China added 40.8 million phone users during the January-May period, bringing the nationwide total to more than 1.1 billion in a country with a 1.3 billion population.
Sri Lanka: 69 Casualties in Clashes
By Prensa Latina,
Colombo : The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry said Friday that at least, 69 Tamil separatists and government soldiers were killed during combats in the northern Sri Lanka.
A dispatch issued Friday said these confrontations occurred in the last 24 hours in the northern districts of Jaffna, Welioya, Vavuniya and Mannar, the objects of a military offensive since January this year.
The source said at least 32 rebels belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were killed, and another 37 were injured, while government lost two troops.
Time magazine fights back in Soeharto case
Jakarta, Sep 18 (Xinhua) Time magazine is likely file for a case review after the Indonesian Supreme Court ordered the magazine to pay former president Soeharto one trillion rupiahs ($106 million) for defamation, local media reported Tuesday.
"The court's decision is absurd since many media outlets have published similar articles about the Soeharto family's corruption, collusion and nepotism," Time's Indonesian lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.
Islamic group calls for forest fire jihad in Australia
By NNN-Bernama,
Melbourne : A group of Islamic extremists is urging Muslims to deliberately light bushfires in Australia..
US intelligence channels earlier this year identified a website calling on Muslims in Australia, the US, Europe and Russia to "start forest fires", claiming "scholars have justified chopping down and burning the infidels' forests when they do the same to our lands", ``The Age’’ newspaper reports.
Two small planes collide in Florida, 2 killed
By Xinhua,
Washington : Two people were killed after a single-engine plane crashed into another unoccupied small aircraft on the ground at the Lantana airport in Palm Beach County, Florida Wednesday, authorities said.
County Fire Rescue Department spokesman Don Delucia told reporters that it appeared that the first plane lost power during take-off and was making an emergency landing when it struck the parked plane.
The impact caused the first plane to spin around and come to a rest underneath a storage trailer.
UN Security Council authorizes fight against Somali piracy
By DPA,
New York : The UN Security Council Monday unanimously voted to authorize states to enter Somalia's territorial waters to fight piracy, which it said has become a threat to international and regional peace and security.
The 15-nation council allowed states to use "all necessary means" to "repress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea" that have gotten bolder recently with more ships being captured by pirates off the coasts of Somalia.
Russia assures support to China on Taiwan issue
By IANS/RAI Novosti,
Moscow: Russia will continue to support China on the "sensitive" issue of Taiwan, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.
"Russia is very careful about (its) ties with China," Putin said during a meeting in Moscow with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is expected to succeed Hu Jintao as president.
"We have always supported China on the most sensitive issues, including the Taiwan problem," Putin added.
The statement comes amid a simmering dispute over US arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rebel region to be reunited with the mainland.
Deliberate bus explosions kill 2, injure 14 in China
By KUNA,
Tokyo : Two people were killed and 14 injured on Monday in two separate explosions on public buses in downtown Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, state press reported.
One explosion occurred at 7:10 a.m. (2310 GMT Sunday) at a bus stop, while the other happened at the nearby road intersection at 8:05 a.m. (0005 GMT), Xinhua News Agency said.
Local police have reached a preliminarily judgment that the two explosions were deliberate, said Xinhua, giving no details.
Afghan man wins battle for Australian citizenship
Melbourne: An Afghan man has won a battle for Australian citizenship, despite admitting to beating his sisters with a tree branch, media reported on...
Fighting in Myanmar leads 10,000 to flee to China
By Xinhua,
Kunming (China) : About 10,000 citizens of Myanmar have fled to neighbouring China's Yunnan province Friday morning following clashes in their region, the provincial government said.
Fighting broke out Thursday afternoon in the Kokang area of Shan state in northeastern Myanmar, which caused panic among the residents and forced them to flee to the neighbouring Yunnan province, the foreign affairs office of the Yunnan provincial government said in a statement.
Yunnan is putting them up in seven settlements.
US Fed chief warns of continued inflation
By DPA,
Washington : US central bank chief Ben Bernanke warned Wednesday that inflation could continue to increase in the near term, as government figures showed rocketing petrol prices had pushed inflation in June to the largest monthly increase since 2005.
The Consumer Price Index increased to a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent in June from 0.6 percent the previous month, the US Labour Department said Wednesday.
UAE, Kazakhstan leaders hold talks
By IANS/WAM,
Astana: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kazakhstan have held talks over their bilateral relations.
Men more likely to be lonely in old age
By IANS,
Washington: Men plan for their financial security in retirement but not for their happiness, according to the latest report. Unless men build social and leisure networks, they could find retirement lonely and isolating.
A survey published in Psychology and Aging revealed that more women than men plan for their health and leisure activities before they stop working. The report's findings are based on a survey of 377 men and women aged 50-66 years.
Wall Street loses momentum as stocks fall
By DPA,
New York : Wall Street could not hold on to early gains Tuesday despite President George W. Bush's announcement of a $250-billion cash infusion plan to prop up the nation's struggling banks.
Wall Street began the day with an early surge capitalizing off Monday's massive rally, but The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the two other leading indices were down by the time the closing bell rang Tuesday afternoon.
Clinton takes on Obama; McCain secures former President Bush’s endorsement
By SPA
Milwaukee : Democrats in Wisconsin and Hawaii were voting Tuesday in a presidential campaign that has gotten increasingly negative with charges of broken promises, plagiarism and petty partisanship. Hillary Rodham Clinton was looking to rebound after eight straight losses to Barack Obama who was looking to increase his lead in the race for nominating delegates, according to AP.
Bush calls global financial summit for Nov 15
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : US President George W. Bush will host a summit meeting on the global financial crisis Nov 15, bringing together world leaders from the Group of 20 developed developing countries including India.
The first in a series of conferences aimed at reforming the international financial system, the summit, to be held 11 days after the US presidential election, will include leaders of the Group of 20, the White House announced Wednesday.
Central Asian premiers hold security summit
By DPA,
Beijing : The premiers of China, Russia and four Central Asian nations Wednesday held a summit under the security-focussed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, host nation China said.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and their counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were scheduled to attend the summit at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
Canada backtracks on pledge to balance budget by 2014
By IANS,
Ottawa : The Canadian government will not be able to keep its election promise to balance the budget in two years, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said.
France ready to interavene in Chad if necessary
By Xinhua
Paris : French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday his country is ready to intervene militarily in Chad if necessary.
"If France must do its duty, it will do so," Sarkozy said, "Let no one doubt it."
Sarkozy's comment came after the UN Security Council issued a statement Monday to allow France and other Chadian allies to help repel the rebel forces in Chad.
The statement called on member states to "provide support, in conformity with the UN Charter, as requested by the government of Chad".
David Cameron, friend of India, could be new British PM
By IANS,
London : If the Conservatives do dislodge the Labour from power after finishing on top in a hung parliament, the man most likely to occupy 10 Downing Street and be one of Britain's youngest prime ministers will be David Cameron, an undisguised admirer of India.
Eton and Oxford educated, the 43-year-old has had a meteoric rise through Conservative ranks since Chancellor Norman Lamont made him his special adviser after spotting talent in the man.
Ahead of a September 2006 visit to India, Cameron wrote a comment piece in The Guardian, saluting Indian democracy.
US tests hypersonic weapon
By IANS,
Moscow : The US Army has conducted the first flight test of a new weapon-concept designed to fly within the earth's atmosphere at hypersonic speed and long range, the Pentagon said.
Chad Rebels Accept Conditional Truce
By Prensa Latina
Nairobi : Chadian rebels accepted an immediate truce Tuesday, but conditioned it on the resignation of President Idriss Deby, who is in the capital N Djamena, supported by the UN, the United States and France.
Over 1,000 people are estimated to have been wounded in clashes between army and rebel forces in N Djamena.
Chinese Americans protest western media bias over Tibet
By Xinhua,
Washington : Over 300 Chinese Americans protested here against certain Western media and politicians' alleged biased remarks over last month's riots in Lhasa.
The protestors staged a peaceful demonstration Saturday in the Upper Senate Park that lies across the street from the US Capitol Building here.
Chinese Americans, overseas Chinese professionals and students took part in the event.
"American media, you can muzzle our voices, but cannot smother the truth!" read one banner.
US deports nearly 400,000 immigrants
By IANS/EFE,
Washington : The US government has deported a record number of undocumented immigrants - around 400,000 - this year, officials said.
Ecuatorial Guinea President Ends Cuba Visit
By Prensa Latina
Havana : Ecuatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo winds up Sunday an over 48-hour visit to Cuba, in which he inked two accords and met with First Vice President Raul Castro.
"We and our peoples are greater friends, and we help each other,"
Raul Castro told press after signing two agreements between both governments.
They were the reciprocal lifting of visa requirement in diplomatic, official and service passports, and cooperation between the foreign affairs ministries of Cuba and Equatorial Guinea.
Obama signs new spending bill, eases sanctions on Cuba
By Xinhua,
Washington : US President Barack Obama has signed into law a $410-billion spending bill that will also ease some of Washington's economic sanctions on Cuba.
Obama, who signed the bill Wednesday, however said it was "imperfect" as the Congressmen had added pet projects to the $410 billion package, which is aimed at funding government spending until September 2010.
"I am signing an imperfect omnibus bill because it's necessary for the ongoing functions of government," Obama said at the White House. "But I also view this as a departure point for more far-reaching change."
Vancouver man says he is love child of JFK
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS
Vancouver : A Vancouver-based man has come out to claim that he is the illegitimate son of the late US president John F. Kennedy.
After a story in the New York Post last week that Vanity Fair was about to run a story about him but stopped on the insistence of Ted Kennedy, JFK's brother and Massachusetts senator, the man named Jack approached the Globe and Mail Saturday to reveal his story to avoid what he called media hunt.
Gays died because Milk was killed, says Sean Penn
By IANS,
London : Sean Penn believes that fewer gays would have died of AIDS if San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk hadn't been assassinated in his prime.
Penn, who plays Milk - America's first elected gay public official - in Gus Van Sant's new biopic, thinks former US president Ronald Reagan would not have been able to ignore the AIDS epidemic if Milk had lived. Milk was killed in 1978.
Indonesian Vessel with 27 passengers reported missing
By SPA
Sumenep, Madura, Indonesia : As many as 27 passengers of "Salju Emas" vessel which left Masalembu port at about 14:00 local time on Monday for Gresik port, Kalianget, Sumenep district, Madura, were reported missing in Masalembu waters, ANTARA reported.
Indonesia’s tourism sector to focus on emerging markets
By IANS,
Jakarta : Indonesia's tourism sector will focus on emerging markets in 2012 as they are relatively resistant to global financial crisis, a minister said here Thursday.
Universal access to HIV/AIDS services is possible in many countries
By IRNA,
Geneva : Significant progress has been made in several low- and middle-income countries in increasing access to HIV/AIDS services, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
Ship loaded with sulphuric acid sinks off Sri Lanka
By DPA,
Colombo : A Turkish ship transporting sulphuric acid sank off Sri Lanka's north-eastern coast Thursday, three days after attempts to repair a leak in the vessel failed, a navy spokesman said. The ship had sailed from Tuticorin in India.
Sulphuric acid is widely used for lead-acid batteries for vehicles.
The ship's 19-member crew was rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy after the MT Granba reported a leak off the Trincomalee area Monday and attempts were made to carry out the repairs.
Hi-tech sports goods for Beijing Olympics
By Saurabh Yadav, IANS,
New Delhi : As the Beijing Olympics start Friday, sports goods companies around the world have readied cutting-edge technologies, ranging from improvements over existing ones to the almost exotic, specifically designed for the Olympics.
An interesting example is US sports goods maker Nike's new Precool vest that was designed in the company's research labs, which found that athletes' performance falls off drastically when core body temperature hits 103 degrees Fahrenheit.
New gas field found in Turkmenistan
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Ashgabat : A new natural gas field has been discovered in Turkmenistan, state TV reported.
Crisis in Nepal is internal: India
By IANS,
New Delhi: Hours after Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda resigned as Nepal's prime minister, India Monday pushed for "broadest possible political consensus" and hoped that the present crisis in its eastern neighbour is resolved in a manner which contributes to the early conclusion of the peace process.
Reacting to the crisis in Nepal sparked off after the sacking of the army chief and subsequent resignation of Prachanda, New Delhi struck a cautious note saying "what is happening in Nepal is internal to Nepal".
Dalai Lama rules out retirement ’till death’
By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Dharamsala : Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Sunday categorically said he was not thinking of retirement and was committed to the cause of Tibet "till death".
"There is no point or question of retirement. It is my moral responsibility to lead the Tibetans till my death. My whole body and flesh is Tibetan," the Dalai Lama told a press conference, a day after a crucial six-day meeting of nearly 600 top Tibetan leaders to decide the future course of the Tibetan struggle ended here.
China mine blast kills seven
By Xinhua
Hohhot (China) : Seven people were killed in a colliery gas explosion in north China's Inner Mongolian region Saturday, officials said.
The blast occurred around 2.10 a.m. at the Liyuan Coal Mine in the Huolin Gol city when 23 people were working underground. Sixteen managed to escape, said a spokesman with the regional work safety supervision bureau.
Police have detained several people from the mine and are hunting for another shareholder who absconded after the accident.
Pope posts appeal for new generation on YouTube
By DPA,
Vatican City : An appeal by Pope Benedict XVI to the new "digital generation" marked Friday the Vatican's launch of its own channel on video-sharing internet site, YouTube.
New media technologies including the internet are helping "create a great family that knows no boundaries," Benedict said in a video posted on the new site.
Footage of 81-year-old Benedict during the message's recording in a Vatican broadcasting studio appeared Friday with 11 other video clips.
US Airways settles with offloaded Sikh musicians
By IANS,
Washington: The US Airways has offered an apology and an undisclosed amount in compensation in a settlement with three Sikh musicians who were removed from a flight at the Sacramento airport in California last year.
Sikh organisations in the US had termed the incident involving classical religious performers Davinder Singh, Gulbag Singh and Iqbal Singh as a case of racial profiling and discrimination.
Chilling images of ice-shelf collapsing in the heat
By IANS
New York : A US satellite has captured chilling images of over 400 square kilometres of Antarctica's massive Wilkins Ice Shelf collapsing because of rapid climate changes.
The area is part of the much larger shelf of nearly 13,000 square kilometres that is now supported only by a narrow strip of ice between two islands.
"If there is a little bit more retreat, this last 'ice buttress' could collapse and we'd likely lose about half the total ice shelf area in the next few years," warned Ted Scambos of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Padma Lakshmi hospitalised for pregnancy complications
By IANS,
New York : Author Salman Rushdie's ex-wife Padma Lakshmi was recently hospitalised after experiencing complications during pregnancy.
Lakshmi, 39, had to be hospitalised due to certain complications. Details of Lakshmi's medical problem are not known, reports dailystar.co.uk.
"The baby was in serious danger," said a source.
The former model is now recovering at home with her close friend - talent agency boss Teddy Forstmann.
"Teddy has been by her side the whole time. He has been incredibly wonderful and supportive," said the source.
Court questions whether US travel ban anti-Muslim
Washington, (IANS) : An US appeals court has questioned whether President Donald Trump's travel ban discriminates against Muslims, a media report said on Wednesday.
Judge...
Japan to provide up to $60 billion in crisis fund
By DPA,
Bali Island (Indonesia): Japan will establish an emergency fund of up to 60 billion dollars in the event of an Asian financial crisis, Japanese Finance Minister Kauru Yosano said Sunday.
The fund is separate from the amount Japan committed to the Chiang Mai Initiative, a $120 billion regional foreign-exchange reserve pool, Yosano told a seminar of the Asian Development Bank's board of governors on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
US stocks down as Oracle and Google tumble
By DPA
New York : Major US stock indices were led lower Thursday by earnings worries at banks hit by the mortgage crisis and at technology giants Oracle and Google.
Oracle, the third largest software firm, reported disappointing third-quarter results late Wednesday, causing its shares to fall by the most since November. Internet search firm Google's stock price declined after a researcher said clicks on its advertising sponsored links fell last month.
Press communique: China, Japan to further food safety co-op
By Xinhua
Beijing : China and Japan will continue to cooperate and improve their product quality and food safety systems, said a press communique issued by the two countries after their first high-level economic dialogue.
In the communique, the two countries agreed to solve issues of common concern through technical negotiations through the end of March 2008. These issues include exports of Chinese pumpkins and the meat of artiodactyls (cattle, deer and similar hoofed animals)to Japan, as well as Japanese rice exports to China.
Bush and Blair never prayed together, their wives say
By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS,
London : The wives of former US President George W Bush and ex-British premier Tony Blair have cleared up one of the enduring myths of their time on the world stage.
The two men may have struck up a great personal friendship and seen eye-to-eye on the momentous events of the last decade but they definitely did not pray together, according to the two wives Sunday night.
Burdwan blast: youth arrested from Nepal
Siliguri: A 29-year-old youth was arrested Monday from Nepal in a joint operation by NIA, West Bengal and Nepal police in connection with the...