7,844 dead or missing in China disasters in 2010
By IANS,
Beijing: Natural disasters left 7,844 people dead or missing in China in 2010, an official statement said Friday.
Barack Obama has a busy new life indeed
By DPA,
Washington : If Barack Obama thought he'd get a break after the US election, reality has proven otherwise: His life as president-elect has been every bit as busy as life on the gruelling campaign trail.
From receiving his first intelligence briefing, to picking his staff, speaking with world leaders, finding a plan to lift America out of the economic morass, and trying fulfill a family promise, Obama's had a full plate of challenges.
Bolivia Morales Embraces Democracy
By Prensa Latina
La Paz : Bolivian President Evo Morales is to present a bill in the National Congress Friday to put on the line his performance and mandate of nine prefects.
After a shocking and controversial day when he made the call, Morales delivers today his proposal on a referendum of revocation that delegitimates accusations of authoritarianism against him.
The Bolivian statesman challenged top department authorities to be consistent and submit to the people"s will, to decide if social changes are approved or not.
North Korea opens fire at South Korean border post: Report
By DPA,
Seoul : North Korea's military opened fire Friday toward a South Korean border post, and South Korean soldiers returned fire, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
Carter’s schedule leak creates furore in Nepal
By IANS
Kathmandu : Details of former US president Jimmy Carter's four-day itinerary in Nepal, kept tightly under wraps due to unprecedented security measures, have found their way in a maverick tabloid, creating a furore.
Mobs kill 5 in Johannesburg in anti-foreigner violence
By SPA,
Johannesburg, South Africa : Mobs killed at least Five people and injured 50 in anti-foreigner violence Sunday that has spread through poor suburbs of Johannesburg, police said.
The Associated Press quoted Police as saying that the violence erupted after midnight in a slum settlement called Cleveland near the city center. Two people were burned and three others beaten to death. More than 50 were taken to hospitals with gunshot and stab wounds.
Floods in Germany, disaster declared
By DPA
Hamburg : An 82-year-old woman drowned when her basement apartment suddenly filled with water as torrential rain caused flooding in parts of Germany early Sunday.
A state of disaster was declared in two regions of the southern state of Bavaria close to the city of Nuremberg.
Police said choked streams burst their banks and the waters, in many places a metre and a half deep, invaded homes and caused underground home-heating oil tanks in yards to float free of the soil.
World refugee numbers rise first time in five years
By DPA
Geneva : The number of refugees in the world rose for the first time in five years in 2006, fuelled by the conflict in Iraq, according to the annual report of the UN refugee agency UNHCR published Tuesday.
Trinidad’s Hanuman fest: Learning from wisdom of monkey god
By Paras Ramoutar
Port of Spain, March 25 (IANS) Trinidad and Tobago is set to host a 'Hanuman Heritage Festival' next month that will include cultural events, religious discourses and a global Hindu conference on the popular monkey god.
"It is aimed to provide a profound and enlightening spiritual experience; to explore and benefit from the...wisdom and devotion of Lord Hanuman for the attainment of a higher level of consciousness," said Swami Brahmadeoji, spiritual leader at the Brahma Vidya Peetham.
Hundreds of Tibetan rioters in Sichuan surrender to police
By KUNA
Tokyo : A total of 381 people involved in the riots in Aba county in the Tibetan-inhabited areas in Sichuan Province, northwest China, have surrendered themselves to the police as of Monday noon, China's official news agency Xinhua reported Tuesday.
Law enforcement authorities of Aba county issued a notice on March 19, urging those who had taken part in the riots on March 16 to submit themselves within ten days.
Hobbits may have been human after all
By IANS
Sydney : When they were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004, the small hobbit-like fossils were considered a hitherto unknown primitive species.
But scientists from the University of Western Australia now suggest that they were, after all, human.
Under a new study that focussed on their bone structure rather than genetics, the scientists have concluded that the small stature and distinctive features of the hobbit-like people were possibly due to severe iodine deficiency.
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.
China quake toll nears 56,000
By DPA,
Beijing : The official death toll in last week's earthquake in southwestern China's Sichuan province neared 56,000 Friday, with more than 29,000 still missing, the government said, as evacuations were ordered out of fear natural dams will burst.
As of late Thursday evening, 55,239 deaths had been registered in the aftermath of May 12 earthquake in Sichuan and 577 in neighbouring regions, said Li Chengyun, vice governor of Sichuan Friday in Beijing.
Prabhakaran’s mother dies in Sri Lanka
By IANS,
Colombo : The mother of slain Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V. Prabhakaran passed away Sunday in a hospital, a media report said. She was 81.
Market crunch must not overshadow climate crisis: WWF
By Xinhua,
Brussels : The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Tuesday asked the European Union (EU) not to backtrack on its emissions reduction commitments because of the current financial crisis.
The WWF launched the appeal through its Brussels-based European Policy Office on the eve of an EU summit, at which the leaders will discuss a climate change package.
"European countries need to reaffirm the EU commitment to cut greenhouse gases by 30 percent by 2020, without any escape clauses," said Delia Villagrasa, a senior advisor at the WWF.
Slovakian government defies EU to reopen nuclear plant
By DPA,
Bratislava (Slovakia) : The Slovakian government decided in an extraordinary session Saturday night to reopen its Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear power plant closed at the beginning of the year as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute.
"I am aware that we are violating our accession agreement with the European Union (EU) with this decision, and I accept the full political responsibility for it," Prime Minister Robert Fico said during a press conference broadcast on TA3 TV news channel.
Global financial stability improves, but risks of reversal high: IMF
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Global financial stability has improved following unprecedented policy actions and signs of economic recovery, but overall risks remain elevated and the risk of reversal remains significant, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
IMF estimate of global losses arising from the crisis for 2007-10 now stands at roughly $3.4 trillion largely due to rising securities values, it said in the October Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR), released in Istanbul Wednesday. The new estimate is around $600 billion lower than the last GFSR.
Italy’s usury racket is worth 20 bn euros
By IANS/AKI,
Rome : Growing number of Italian businesses are falling prey to loan sharks, raising the usury racket's annual turnover to 20 billion euros in the country.
Colombian rebels release kidnapped oil worker
By EFE
Bogota: Colombia's rebel guerrilla group has released an oil worker they abducted nearly three months ago in the southern city of Puerto Asis, the oil worker's wife said.
German Perez, who was taken hostage May 15 by the 48th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was set free Friday, Perez's wife, Leveiza Mora, told reporters.
"The most important thing is that we have him with us and that we are enjoying his pleasant company, which for us, especially for me, is of great importance due to the suffering the kidnapping caused me," Mora said.
Slain journalist Danish Siddiqui’s parents file complaint against Taliban before International Criminal Court
Siddique's parents have demanded punishment against culprits for torturing and killing him while he was on an assignment in Afghanistan.
Snobar | TwoCircles.net
NEW DELHI —...
Pig DNA found in halal meat plant in Moscow
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: Pig DNA has been found in sausages and ham produced at a halal meat processing plant in Moscow, test results revealed.
Six killed in helicopter crash in Philippines
By IANS,
Manila : At least six people, including a provincial governor, were killed Monday in a helicopter crash in northern Philippines, officials said.
Outgoing governor of Quezon, Rafael Nantes, two of his security guards and the pilot were killed after the chopper crashed in Lucena City in the northern province of Quezon, about 300 metres upon takeoff, said Col. Generoso Bolina, an army spokesman.
He said the chopper hit two houses on the ground, killing two civilians.
According to Lt. Gen. Roland Detabali, the helicopter exploded when it was on its way to Manila.
Old Hindu temple vandalised in Trinidad
By Paras Ramoutar, IANS
Port-of-Spain : An old Hindu temple in central Trinidad was ransacked and four life-size idols damaged by miscreants. Police said they were on the lookout for six suspects.
The incident took place at the Temple-By-The-Sea, Waterloo, some 40 km from here Friday and idols of lord Krishna, Ganesh, Hanuman and goddess Durga were damaged.
"We have the blood of Jesus. You are idols," the men apparently shouted before desecrating the idols, according to the police.
Myanmar releases detained monks but diplomats not hopeful
By DPA
Yangon : Myanmar's junta has released hundreds of Buddhist monks arrested in a crackdown on the largest anti-regime protests in 19 years, but few see such lenience as a sign of positive change in the brutal regime's tactics towards dissent, diplomats and activists said Saturday.
The New Light of Myanmar, a government mouthpiece, announced Saturday that 404 of the 513 monks arrested since Sep 26 had already been released from prison, together with 30 women who had been caught in the authorities dragnet of 18 monasteries in Yangon, citing military sources.
Take care of Earth: Ban
By IRNA,
Tehran : UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message on International Mother Earth Day, April 22, 2010, urged all governments, businesses and citizens of the world to give the Mother Earth the respect and care she deserves.
According to a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) here on Wednesday, the full text of his message reads:
US denies pulling punches with China on Tibet issue
By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : The US has repeated its call to Beijing to engage in a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, denying suggestions it was pulling punches so as not to jeopardise President W. George Bush's visit to China.
"We are very concerned about the situation in Tibet," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Monday drawing attention to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's call Saturday to Beijing to urge restraint in its response to protesters against Chinese rule in Tibet.
Mugabe dismisses opposition claims of violence
By DPA,
Johannesburg/Harare : Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has dismissed opposition claims of violence ahead of next week's presidential run-off election, saying the claims were aimed at tainting the vote, state media as reported.
The Herald newspaper quoted the 84-year-old Mugabe speaking at a rally in the country's second city Bulawayo on Friday as saying: "They have been saying their supporters are being beaten up by our soldiers. They say this so that they can later say the elections were not free and fair, which is a damn lie!"
US ready for full ties with North Korea, but on condition
By Xinhua
Washington : The US is ready to open full diplomatic ties with North Korea if it completely gives up its nuclear weapons and programmes, a top US diplomat has said.
"We believe that we have some elements that we can put on the table which will be worth North Korea's while in giving up its nuclear ambitions," Christopher Hill, top US negotiator to the six-party talks over the communist country's nuclear issue, said at a Congressional hearing Wednesday.
Oman ambassador-designate meets Kerala CM
Thiruvananthapuram: Indian ambassador-designate to Oman Indra Mani Pandey on Monday called on Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and said the embassy in the sultunate...
Three East African countries launch single tourist visa
By IANS,
Kampala : Tourists visiting Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda will find it much easier and cheaper to travel across the three countries with the...
Everest avalanche kills 18 climbers
Kathmandu : Eighteen climbers, including foreigners, were killed in an avalanche on Mount Everest triggered by a 7.9-magnitude quake that hit Nepal on Saturday,...
Mugabe’s party, opposition in talks over poll outcome
By DPA
Harare : Three days after Zimbabweans went to the polls to vote on President Robert Mugabe's 28-year rule, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was in talks with the ruling Zanu-PF party, a source close to the MDC said Tuesday.
Earlier, Britain's Guardian newspaper also quoted an unnamed senior source within the MDC as saying the party was in touch with senior members of the military.
China more powerful but no need to worry: Defence experts
By IANS,
New Delhi: Even as Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta raised eyebrows with his comments that India cannot match China in military capability, former armed forces chiefs and defence analysts say that while Beijing was certainly more powerful, one need not be "overly concerned".
"China is more powerful nation but it is not that our capability is what it used to be earlier. We are much more capable now. It is difficult to match force by force," former Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, told IANS.
Post-Mumbai, India still a safe investment bet: Germany
By IANS,
New Delhi : Rejecting speculation about India's dwindling appeal as a business destination in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, Germany Friday said that this country remained “a safe place for investment” for European countries that are facing a global economic crunch.
“India remains a safe conduit for investment,” visiting German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble told reporters here when asked whether the Mumbai terror attacks will affect foreign investment in India.
OPEC oil prices continue to rise
By IANS,
Vienna : Weekly average oil prices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose to $122.87 per barrel last week, the Vienna-based cartel said Monday.
EU leaders agree on financial reform
By DPA,
Brussels : European Union (EU) leaders agreed Friday to a common position on reforming the global financial system, officials at an emergency EU summit in Brussels said.
"There is a pretty detailed common position from Europe," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
At the summit, which was intended to prepare a common EU position for a meeting of the world's leading economic powers in Washington on Nov 15, EU leaders gave their backing to a watered-down set of principles drawn up by the French government, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.
6.1 magnitude quake hits Japan
Tokyo: A quake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale jolted southwest Japan early Friday, the country's meteorological agency said.
The temblor, which struck at around...
Israel to build 750 homes in West Bank
By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has approved the construction of hundreds of new homes in a West Bank settlement, local daily Ha'aretz reported Sunday.
According to the report, some 750 homes will be built in the Givat Ze'ev settlement in the Agan Ayelot neighbourhood.
Housing and Construction Minister Ze'ev Boim Sunday instructed his office to carry out the project, it said.
The project in the West Bank was first initiated in 1999 by the Israeli Housing Ministry and Israel Lands Administration (ILA), but was stopped in 2000.
Poll: Most Democrats hope Obama picks Clinton as vice president candidate
By Xinhua,
Washington : A majority of U.S. Democrats want presidential candidate Barack Obama to choose his rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate should he win the nomination, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
The new Gallup poll showed that 55 percent of 1,017 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents surveyed believe Obama should share the "dream ticket" with Clinton if he wins in the presidential nomination race.
Vietnam accuses US diplomat of causing public disorder
By DPA,
Hanoi : A US diplomat apprehended outside a Vietnamese dissident's house had caused public disorder and the case would be considered by the authorities, state media said Friday.
Russian Air Force to deploy second S-400 regiment
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia's Air Force is preparing to deploy a second regiment equipped with new S-400 air defence systems, an Air Force official said.
"A second S-400 regiment will soon be deployed," Colonel General Alexander Zelin told journalists Friday.
The new systems will protect the air space around Moscow and industrial zones in the centre of Russia's European territory.
The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) air defence system is expected to form the new cornerstone of Russia's theatre air and missile defences up to 2020 or even 2025.
US national security advisor discusses Iran with Israelis
By DPA,
Jerusalem: US National Security Advisor James Jones was in Israel Wednesday for briefings related to Iran's nuclear programme, in the midst of a week of intense US-Israeli diplomacy.
General Jones heard updates from senior Israeli security officials, before scheduled meetings with Israel Army Chief of Staff Gaby Ashkenazi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later in the day.
Putin, Hu to meet during antiterrorism drill
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao will meet in the South Urals Aug 16-17 for talks and a review of troops engaged in a regional anti-terrorism exercise, Peace Mission 2007, China's ambassador to Russia said Friday.
"On the invitation of President Putin, Hu Jintao will visit Russia on Aug 16-17 to watch the joint anti-terrorism exercise conducted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)," Liu Guchang told a news conference.
US embassy in Brussels evacuated
By IANS,
Brussels : The US embassy in Brussels was evacuated due to a suspicious vehicle parked nearby, police said Wednesday.
Fake assassination photo of Canadian PM creates uproar
By IANS,
Toronto: Canadian politics sunk to a new low this week when the opposition Liberal Party posted on its website a doctored picture of Prime Minister Stephen Harper being assassinated.
After an uproar, the opposition party removed the offending photo which showed the prime minister's face superimposed on the picture of Lee Harvey Oswald - alleged killer of American President John F. Kennedy in 1963 - being gunned down by Jack Ruby.
Mattress factory fire kills 55 in Casablanca
By IINA,
Casablanca : At least 55 people were killed and 12 seriously injured in a fire yesterday at a mattress factory in Morocco's biggest city Casablanca, according to a revised official toll.
Pro-junta group defends extension of Suu Kyi detention
By DPA
Yangon : Myanmar's ruling junta has extended Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest by another year to assure the successful conclusion of the National Convention process, a pro-government group said Saturday.
Casanova: The man who seduced 122 women
By Siegfried Mortkowitz, DPA,
Paris : History has been unkind to Giacamo Casanova, reducing his contribution to Western culture to the use of his name as a synonym for womaniser and philanderer. Casanova has particularly fallen out of favour today, in a world in which safe sex, women's liberation and political correctness have made pariahs of men who pride themselves, as Casanova did, of having seduced more than 100 women.
China jails 17 people over Tibet violence
By KUNA,
Tokyo : Seventeen people were sentenced to jail terms on Tuesday ranging from three years to life in connection with the riots in Tibet's capital of Lhasa last month, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
The Intermediate People's Court of Lhasa passed down the sentences at an open court session, according to Xinhua, but it gave no details of the charges brought against those jailed.
The 17 were the first to be sentenced after Tibet and neighboring provinces were hit by a series of riots and anti-government protests in March and early April.
White stuff on Mars is ice: NASA
By DPA,
Washington : The white material on Mars uncovered by the robotic arm of the Phoenix probe is ice, scientists at the US space agency NASA have said.
"We have found proof that this hard bright material is really water ice and not some other substance," Peter Smith of the University of Arizona said in a transcript of a press briefing released late Friday.
Train hijacking foiled in Indonesia
By IANS,
Jakarta : An attempt to hijack a train carrying hundreds of passengers to their hometowns ahead of Eid was Saturday foiled by the police, an official said.
Oil prices slide
By IANS,
New York : Crude oil prices plunged Thursday amid rising expectations that the US and Europe will release strategic reserves.
Trucker on rampage kills three, leaves 14 injured
By Xinhua,
Tokyo : Three people were killed and 14 wounded Sunday after a man struck passersby with a small truck and stabbed them with a knife in the Akihabara area of the capital city, police said.
The dead were three men aged 19, 47 and 74 years respectively.
Three women and a traffic police officer, who was patrolling at the time, are among the 14 wounded.
The police arrested a 25-year-old man identified as Tomohiro Kato, a resident of Shizuoka prefecture.
Akihabara is Tokyo's well-known electronics quarters, which attracts visitors from around the world.
Australia takes tough line on female circumcision
By DPA,
Sydney : Female circumcision is called female genital mutilation (FGM) in Australia and it's a crime.
Those performing it face a possible seven-year prison term and those who don't report it risk a stiff fine.
In Sydney's outer suburb of Auburn, there's a specialist FGM clinic that has been in operation for over 10 years and sees around 40 women a year.
The typical patient is in her 20s, is about to wed, and was operated on by a village midwife in an African or Middle Eastern country when she was young.
US birth rates down for 4th straight year
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Washington: Birth rates in the US fell for the fourth straight year, the government said Wednesday.
Experts blamed the bad economy for low birth rates.
How a book sparked of a Cold War battle
By Vikas Datta
Title: The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book; Authors: Peter Finn and Petra Couvee;...
Can Europe agree on Europe?
By DPA
Brussels : For an organisation that prides itself on never interfering in member states' internal politics, the European Union has spent a lot of time of late worrying about a Polish election.
"It's all down to (Polish Prime Minister) Jaroslaw Kaczynski. If he thinks he'll win votes by blocking the Reform Treaty in Lisbon, he will," a Brussels-based diplomat told DPA.
On Oct 18, the EU's political leaders are set to hold informal talks in Lisbon. At the top of the agenda is a draft law establishing a new set of rules for the 27-member European Union.
1,500-year-old church discovered near Jerusalem
Jerusalem: A 1,500-year-old church from the Byzantine era was unexpectedly discovered during the course of works to widen a highway between Jerusalem and Tel...
An illegal war is state-terrorism
By Yamin Zakari
“we were convinced that all the fissile material that could be used for any weapons purposes had been taken out of Iraq, and we knew that we had eliminated and destroyed the whole infrastructure that Iraq had built up for the enrichment of uranium.”
- Hans Blix, in a BBC Interview, Jan 2003
Britain’s finance sector to lose 15,000 jobs
By Xinhua,
London : Britain's finance sector would lose about 15,000 jobs in the next two months as sharp fall in income and profit start to take its toll, a new study has said.
In a clear sign, the tightened credit markets are hitting the wider economy, it said. The amount of business conducted with manufacturers, retailers and other commercial firms shrank at a record rate, job losses were on the rise and investment plans were cut. Some 10,000 people have already lost their jobs since October.
British police warned against relationship with journalists
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
London : A new report on ethical standards of British police officers warns them against "flirting" and having "secret conversations" with journalists.
Two planes collide at Madrid airport
By IANS,
Madrid: Two planes - with 297 and 384 passengers on board - collided while on the ground at Madrid's Barajas airport, but there were no casualties, a media report said.
President, PM condemn Paris attack
New Delhi : President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday condemned the terror attack on a French satirical magazine that left at...
Bodies trapped inside sunken Philippine ferry
By DPA,
Manila : Bodies were found floating inside a capsized ferry in the Philippines Tuesday as rescuers dove into turbulent seas in a desperate search for hundreds of missing in one of the country's worst maritime accidents.
"Most of the bodies were floating inside," Navy spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo said. "They were trapped when the ship suddenly tilted and capsized."
The MV Princess of the Stars was carrying 864 passengers and crew members when it sank Saturday off Sibuyan Island, 300 km south of Manila, at the height of a typhoon.
Ashoka Pillar now stands tall in Australia
By Neena Bhandari, IANS,
Sydney : It has been hailed as historic. A five-metre-high Ashoka Pillar now stands at a monastery located midway between Sydney and Canberra, in a celebration of the spread of Buddhism from India to Australia.
Believed to be the first in Australia, the Ashoka Pillar has been installed at the Sunnataram Forest Monastery in the verdant surroundings of Southern Highlands.
Shanghai official probed over property
By IANS,
Shanghai : Authorities here said Sunday they were probing a local official after he was reported to own a large villa, a property that would usually be out of his financial reach.
Blast in Philippines kills 3
By Xinhua,
Manila : Three people were killed and 12 others hurt in an grenade explosion in the southern province of Compostela Valley early Thursday, local media reported.
Police said the blast occurred around 0:03 a.m. near a bake shop in Nabunturan where the victims, mostly participants of a local dance competition, were taking snacks, the on-line news network INQUIRER.NET reported.
The injured have been brought to a local hospital.
Police said they are yet to identify the attackers.
15 die, scores missing in bridge collapse in W Nepal
By Xinhua
Kathmandu : At least 15 people died and scores of others went missing when a suspension bridge over the Bheri River in Surkhet district in far-western Nepal collapsed Tuesday afternoon, The Kathmandu Post reported on Wednesday.
In a statement issued late Tuesday, the Armed Police Force confirmed the deaths of 15 including three women and two children.
The Home Ministry, meanwhile, said 32 people including 20 women and 12 men are receiving treatment at Surkhet Regional Hospital, some 375 km west of capital Kathmandu.
Venice-like tourist city coming up in China
By IANS,
Beijing : China is contemplating building a tourist destination worth 60 billion yuan ($8.8 billion) on the lines of Venice, a city covering over 100 small islands inter-connected by lagoons.
The "water-themed" tourist city in Kaixian county in Chongqing, southwest China, will be about 50 sq km large. It will have a 200-hectare wetland park and a 55,000-sq metre water-themed carnival area.
Observer : Obama`s election shows US has abandoned racism
By ANTARA News,
Jakarta : Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) international relations observer Dewi Fortuna Anwar said Barrack Obama's election as US president showed that the US has abandoned racism.
"We are also glad that the American people have discarded racism ," Dewi said here Wednesday.
She said the election of Barrack Obama also indicated the American people were for international dialog and cooperation.
Obama was declared the winner of the US presidential election after he had gained 297 electoral votes against John McCain's support from 145 electoral votes.
33,000 evacuated in China floods
By IANS,
Beijing : Around 33,000 people had to be evacuated as floods wreaked havoc in China's Hainan province, officials said.
US withdraws ‘lexicon of domestic extremism’
By IANS,
Washington : The US administration has withdrawn in no time a 'Domestic Extremism Lexicon', defining a range of extremist activities.
The Homeland Security Department office nixed the 'reference aid' within hours it came out of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) in late March, the Washington Times reported this week.
"The lexicon was not an authorised I&A product, and it was recalled as soon as management discovered it had been released without authorization," Amy Kudwa, Homeland Security spokeswoman, was quoted as saying.
Floating ‘car’ among record UFO sightings in Canada
By IANS,
Toronto : A floating "car" was among an unprecedented number of sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) reported in Canada last year.
At least 1,004 UFOs were sighted across the country last year, representing an almost 25 percent increase in UFO sightings since 2007 and the highest number in almost two decades, Ufology Research, an institute in Winnipeg, said in its report released last weekend.
Hong Kong Plans New Checkpoint Linking China Mainland
By Bernama,
Hong Kong : Hong Kong government is studying a plan to build a new checkpoint linking the metropolis with the Chinese mainland in the next decade.
Secretary for Development of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Carrie Lam told the Legislative Council here Wednesday that the proposed Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai boundary checkpoint will offer a quick link between Hong Kong and Guangdong, boosting regional co-operation and development.
Record 205 nominees for 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
By DPA,
Oslo : A record number of nominations, in all 205, have been made for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Institute said Friday.
The tally includes 172 individuals and 33 organisations, besting the 2005 number of 199 nominations.
Public broadcaster NRK reported that US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were among the nominees.
No plot against Sikh woman MP: Canadian minister
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney denied Sunday any political plot against Sikh woman MP Ruby Dhalla who has been accused of mistreatment by her three former nannies.
Russia to set new border line in Arctic
By Maxim Krans, RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Recent discussions about national geopolitical concerns and spheres of interest have predictably reached the issue of Russia's northern border.
President Dmitry Medvedev set the task of formalizing Russia's right to a considerable part of the Arctic shelf at the Sep 17 meeting of the country's Security Council. This will "turn the Arctic into Russia's resource base of the 21st century", he said at the meeting held to discuss protection of Russia's national interests in the Arctic.
LTTE fails to meet Sri Lanka’s ultimatum to surrender
By IANS,
Colombo : Tamil Tigers Tuesday failed to meet the noon deadline set by Colombo to surrender, as the outfit faces an unprecedented military thrust in its last stronghold in Sri Lanka's north.
"The LTTE terrorists have not surrendered during the ultimatum. But the people who were held hostage by the LTTE in a small strip of coastal land in the Mullaitivu district continue to arrive in the government-held areas in large numbers since Monday," Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told IANS minutes after the deadline expired.
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Chinese Premier Li arrives Sunday; to discuss border and more
By IANS,
New Delhi: All issues, including the boundary question, would be on the table when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meet here Sunday evening for talks.
Thailand heads for Guinness record with upcoming referendum
By DPA
Bangkok : Thailand could enter the Guinness Book of World Records next month for holding the world's first referendum to pass a constitution after giving the population less than a month to prepare for it, Thai academics say.
On Aug 19, the Thai people will decide in a national referendum whether to accept a new charter drafted by the military-appointed Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDF).
US military makes world’s fastest supercomputer
By IANS,
New York : A US military supercomputer, assembled from components originally designed for video game machines, has reached a long-sought-after computing milestone by processing more than 1.026 quadrillion calculations per second.
The new machine is more than twice as fast as the previous fastest supercomputer, the IBM BlueGene/L, which is based at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, reported the New York Times Monday.
Nepal’s peace architect G.P. Koirala dies at 85
By IANS,
Kathmandu: Alarm and grief swept through Nepal Saturday after former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala - architect of the peace negotiations that ended a decade of Maoist insurgency - died following fortnight-long respiratory problems. He was 85.
3 bombs rock southern Thailand
By Xinhua
Bangkok : At least three bombs were triggered by suspected local insurgents in Thailand's southernmost province of Narathiwat on Monday, damaging local power supply and mobile phone signal transmission.
All the three bombs were planted in Narathiwat's Jo Ai Rong district, local police said, adding that two of them were installed near two power relay lines and the other one were planted near a mobile phone pole.
According to the report of The Nation news network, power supply and mobile phone usage for the areas were immediately crippled after the blast.
Death toll in Siberian mine incident rises to three
By RIA Novosti,
Kemerovo : The bodies of two more miners that were trapped in a coalmine in west Siberia, have been found, bringing the death toll to three, a deputy regional governor said on Sunday.
The incident at the mine named after Lenin in Mezhdurechensk in the south of the Kemerovo Region occurred on May 30. A total of 17 miners worked in the coalmine at the time of the rock collapse.
Expedite probe into attacks, India tells Australia
By IANS,
New Delhi: Two days after another Indian was attacked down under, this time set ablaze alive by unidentified attackers in Melbourne, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Monday spoke to his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith and asked him to fast-track the probe into such incidents.
"I spoke to the foreign minister of Australia. I have drawn his attention to the increasing assaults, some of them fatal, on Indian students," Krishna told reporters here.
EU military committee chief visits South-East Asia
By DPA,
Bangkok : The European Union is interested in boosting cooperation with South-East Asia in fighting piracy in the Malacca Straits, disaster relief and peacekeeping missions, the EU chief representative for military affairs said in Bangkok Wednesday.
"This is the first time the chair of the EU Military Committee visits South-East Asia," said General Henri Bentegeat, who arrived in Bangkok Tuesday and is to travel to Jakarta Thursday, on a trip to enhance future cooperation between the two regions.
Putin says Russia will take countermeasures to defend its national security
By KUNA
Moscow : Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterd on Friday that his country would take counter-measures to defend the national security but will not be drawn into a new wave of arms race.
Putin said in a speech to the State Council here today that the wave of the arms race and military and political challenges as well as the lack of response by NATO to search for compromise solutions forces Russia to take defensive action to protect its national security.
Beware of doomsday scams, warns China
By IANS,
Beijing : Police across China are warning people to be aware of scams related to the "end of the world" prophecy based on the ancient Mayan calendar.
Big and thin: PC monitors better than ever
By DPA
Berlin : Chunky, heavy tube monitors appear to have reached the end of their long run as the king of the computer workspace. A hefty competition is under way among flat monitors. The goal: bigger, broader and more handsome.
"Seventeen-inch monitors are already becoming extinct, and 19 inch has become the standard," says Dirk Lorenz from the German consumer-testing organisation Stiftung Warentest in Berlin.
As monitors get bigger, more of them come in wide screen format. That means a 16:10 size ratio instead of the old fashioned 4:3 ratio.
Venezuelan TV news chief kidnapped
By IANS/EFE,
Caracas : Hooded and armed men Monday kidnapped Carlos Roca, news chief of the Televisa de Zulia television channel in the northeastern Venezuelan state of Zulia, said authorities in Maracaibo, the state capital.
"They forced him" into a vehicle that was later found abandoned, Odalis Caldera, said Zulia's public safety secretary.
The kidnapping took place at the entrance to the TV studios, she told Globovision television.
Google boss resigns from Apple board
By DPA,
San Francisco: Google chief executive officer Eric Schmidt has resigned from the board of Apple because of potential conflicts of interest, Apple said in a statement Monday.
The move comes as the two companies increasingly find themselves competing in the same arena. Google's Android operating system power phones that are a major rival to Apple's iPhone, while its Chrome browser and its plans for a Google operating system also compete with Apple's products. Schmidt has been with Google since 2001 and on Apple's board since August 2006.
Sanctions against Russia not on agenda: France
By DPA,
Paris : French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said that sanction against Russia is not on the agenda for Monday's European Union (EU) emergency summit in Brussels. Fillon instead called for dialogue with Moscow.
The meeting, due to begin at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT) in Brussels, had been called to find a common EU position on the issues arising from the conflict in Georgia. Sanctions had been widely discussed as one way to rein in an increasingly assertive Russia following the crisis in August.
However, Fillon said "Russia is a very large country that matters".
Singapore urges Myanmar junta for accord with opposition
Budapest, (DPA) Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Tuesday urged Myanmar's military junta to reach an agreement that would allow the opposition to take part in governing the troubled country.
"The army and other groups need to reach an agreement that will allow the opposition to take part in the government," MTI news agency quoted him as saying following a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany in Budapest.
New mass grave found in eastern Bosnia
By DPA,
Sarajevo : Bosnian forensic experts started to excavate a mass grave Thursday in Kamenica near the eastern Bosnian Serb town of Zvornik, the commission on missing people confirmed.
Murat Hurtic from the commission said that some 30 to 40 bodies were uncovered after the first layers of soil were removed from the top of the grave.
The victims were Bosnian Muslims killed in the massacre in the former eastern Bosnian Muslim enclave of Srebrenica during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Italy’s parliament authorises MP’s arrest
Rome : Italy's parliament Thursday authorised the arrest of a parliamentarian belonging to the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
Sicilian Francantonio Genovese was charged in...
US challenges India’s requirements for solar products in WTO
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington: In another potential blow to India-US ties after the Khobragade affair, US Monday challenged India's domestic content requirements in Phase...
Obama to work with Bush in confronting economic crisis
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Declaring that restoring the nation's economic equilibrium will be a priority of his administration, US president-elect Barack Obama has vowed to work with President George W. Bush in bipartisan spirit during transition.
"I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead," Obama told reporters Friday in Chicago in his first public remarks since election Tuesday. "We have taken some major action to date, and we will take further action."
US Congress approves economic stimulus bill
By DPA
Washington : Both chambers of the US Congress overwhelmingly approved a $152-billion economic stimulus package called for by President George W. Bush to prop the slowing economy.
The Senate passed the bill 81-16 Thursday after Democrats agreed to a compromise scaling back the size of the package of tax breaks and benefits.
The stimulus package now heads to Bush's desk, where it is expected to be signed into a piece of legislation.
NATO: No Russian troop withdrawal seen at Ukraine border
Brussels: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen Tuesday said there was no sign of Russia pulling its forces back from the border with Ukraine,...
Hillary Clinton claims victory in New Hampshire
By SPA
Manchester, New Hampshire : U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton claimed a come-from-behind victory in New Hampshire's Democratic primary late Tuesday, edging out her Senate colleague, Barack Obama.
Flanked by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and daughter Chelsea, the New York senator told supporters she "found her own voice" in the five days since her third-place showing in Iowa, and promised them "we are in it for the long run."
"Now let's give America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has just given me," she said.
Multiple sightings of objects possibly of lost jet reported
Canberra: A number of aircraft spotted various objects possibly of the lost Malaysian jet in a new search area in the southern Indian Ocean...
US presidential candidate calls Mexico a ‘drug cartel’
By DPA
Washington : Tom Tancredo, a Republican congressman and presidential candidate, said that the US cannot trust the Mexican government in combating narcotics and called the neighbouring country a "drug cartel".
"Mexico is a drug cartel," Tancredo said Wednesday. "The degree of corruption inside the government and the military is so great that it's hard to see where the government ends and where the cartels begin."
Minister who revoked Haneef’s visa to face inquiry
By Neena Bhandari, IANS,
Sydney : Former Australian immigration minister Kevin Andrews, who had controversially cancelled Indian doctor Muhammad Haneef's work visa, will give evidence Wednesday before the inquiry investigating the botched terrorism case.
The Justice John Clarke inquiry is investigating the series of events from the arrest of Haneef at Brisbane International Airport July 2, 2007 until his release from detention and return home.
EU calls on Iran to respond to US overtures
By DPA,
Luxembourg : European Union foreign ministers Monday called on Iran to respond positively to the US' recent diplomatic overtures and help find a negotiated solution to the nuclear standoff.
"The EU warmly supports the new direction of US policy towards Iran, which opens a window of opportunity for negotiations on all aspects of Iran's nuclear programme," ministers said in a joint statement issued during talks in Luxembourg.
"The EU calls upon Iran to seize this opportunity to engage seriously with the international community in a spirit of mutual respect," ministers said.
Sichuan Earthquake Killed 69,179
By Prensa Latina,
Beijing : The official death toll of the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan China reached 69,197 on Tuesday, according to the State Council Information Board.
Up to now 18,379 people are still missing after the powerful earthquake of 8 degrees on the Richter Scale, with epicenter in Wenchuan district at the center of this Asian nation.
The number of wounded people reported by the medical and aid staff has hit 374,176 since the moment of the tragedy, with most victims recovered.
Sikh Woman elected city council member in US
Washington : A Sikh woman in the US was elected a city council member, first woman from the community to hold the post not...
Kenya, Opposition to Share Power
By Prensa Latina
Nairobi : The Kenyan Government and the opposition arrived to an agreement in this capital on Thursday over sharing power, reported the main mediator and ex UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
At the end of the meeting between president Emilio Mwai Kibabi and Raila Odinga from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), it was reported that they had ó arrived at an agreement ó to create a coalition cabinet.
Use charcoal to fight global warming
By IANS,
Washington : Biochar, a material used by Amazonian Indians to enhance soil fertility centuries ago, may help slow global warming.
Mass production of biochar could capture carbon that otherwise would wind up in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas leading to global warming.
Kelli Roberts and colleagues of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, note that biochar is charcoal produced by heating wood, grass, cornstalks or other organic matter in the absence of oxygen.
One card for over 100 Beijing libraries
By IANS,
Beijing : Book readers in the Chinese capital will now need just one library card to borrow books from around 110 libraries in the city.
India n-deal may support 250,000 American jobs: US chamber
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : The powerful US Chamber of Commerce has come out in strong support of the India-US civil nuclear deal, saying a modest share of the potential $150 billion business could support 250,000 high-tech American jobs.
Asking the US Congress to approve the implementing 123 Agreement before its term expires by the end of this year, the "world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses of every size, sector and region" said the deal offered US companies a "tremendous opportunity".
UN rants US$8.8 million to aid cyclone victims in Bangladesh
By NNN-UNNS
United Nations : The United Nations has allocated $8.8 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support relief efforts in the wake of the deadly cyclone which struck Bangladesh last week, affecting more than 3 million people in the South Asian nation.
Polish president’s plane crash: Most bodies hard to identify
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow/Warsaw : Bodies of only 14 victims killed in the Polish president's plane crash Saturday could be easily identified by relatives, the Polish health minister said.
The Soviet-made TU-154 carrying President Lech Kaczynski hit the top of trees as it attempted to land at a Smolensk airport in west Russia in thick fog Saturday morning, killing all 96 people on board the plane.
McCain dismisses Obama as having no national security experience
By IRNA,
New York : Republican John McCain dismissed Democratic rival Barack Obama as having zero national security experience.
McCain said in North Carolina on Monday there are stark differences between him and the two Democratic candidates, Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. But he concentrated on Obama in particular.
"Senator Obama wants to sit down with an Iranian leader who is dedicated to wiping Israel off the map - his words," McCain told reporters on his campaign bus.
Natasha Richardson suffers ‘traumatic brain injury’ in skiing accident
By IANS,
London : British actress Natasha Richardson is reportedly in a critical condition after suffering a serious head injury while skiing in Quebec, Canada.
The 45-year-old was involved in an accident on the slopes on Monday and was taken to Montreal's Centre Hospitalier Laurentien. She was later transferred to another medical facility, according to US reports.
Richardson, who is married to Irish actor Liam Neeson, is under constant supervision from medics after suffering a "traumatic brain injury", a hospital source tells IrishCentral.com.
Michael Flynn maligned Muslims, shared fake news on Twitter
Washington : Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who has been asked to serve as Donald Trump's National Security Advisor, on his Twitter accountmaligned...
Russia, US sign $5 bn uranium sales deal
By RIA Novosti
Moscow/Washington : Russia and the US have signed a trade deal allowing Russia to increase enriched uranium exports to the US, Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom said Saturday.
"The deal is worth $5-6 billion over the next 10 years," said Rosatom director Sergei Kiriyenko, after signing the document together with US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.
The deal allows for sales of Russian enriched uranium directly to US utilities. Previously, such direct transactions were not permitted.
Thai government prays for peace
By DPA,
Bangkok : Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Thursday led his government in a ceremony along with Buddhist, Brahmin, Islamic, Christian and Sikh religious leaders to seek good fortune and reconciliation after recent political violence.
Abhisit, his wife, members of cabinet and other government and military officials, prayed for a swift end to political turmoil that killed 89 people and injured 885 in a series of clashes in April and May.
Teenager killed because he wore T-shirt of wrong colour
By DPA,
Wellington : A New Zealand teenager was run over and killed by a gang member because his yellow T-shirt was the colour of a rival gang, a newspaper reported Thursday.
Jordan Herewini, 16, was run over twice in Murupara, a logging town in the central North Island, by his brother's truck which had been stolen by a visiting member of the Mongrel Mob, the New Zealand Herald reported.
It quoted residents as saying he had earlier been in a scuffle with the visitors over his yellow T-shirt, a colour associated with the local rival Tribesmen gang.
Father’s death made Paltrow health conscious
By IANS,
Los Angeles: Actress Gwyneth Paltrow says she changed her lifestyle after she lost her father, filmmaker Bruce Paltrow, to cancer a decade ago.
Tangle with Indian lands first royal kin behind bars
By IANS
Kathmandu : An influential member of Nepal's royal family, who had been enjoying impunity despite being blacklisted for defaulting on bank loans, has finally landed behind bars after tangling with an Indian student, reports said.
Diwakar Chand, who is married to King Gyanendra's cousin and was one of the royal advisors during the king's 15-month regime, was arrested from his palatial residence here Thursday after an Indian student complained that he had cheated her of Nepali Rs.3.2 million.
Protests against temple’s plans to sell cremation land
By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : Hindus in a Malaysian town are protesting the move by a Hindu temple to sell part of its land meant for cremations to a private developer.
The Sri Selvavinayagar Temple committee in Butterworth, Penang, said Thursday that they would sell the land meant for cremation.
"We have received the consent of the temple committee and the local community during a public meeting recently," said temple committee chairperson S. Somu.
Leaders of Commonwealth of Independent States pledge more integration
By RIA Novosti
St. Petersburg : Post-Soviet leaders, who had gathered for an informal Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit, have reaffirmed their intention to continue closer integration within the alliance, Kazakhstan's president said.
Substandard building practices blamed for deaths in China
By Till Faehnders, DPA,
Dujiangyan (China) : Hundreds of children who died could have survived the recent, devastating earthquake in China, experts said.
The construction experts blamed widespread, substandard building construction for the fact that so many children were buried under collapsing school buildings.
Xianjian elementary school in Dujiangyan country is an example. The school has been completely flattened, reducing it to nothing more than a pile of rubble.
South Africans unanimous in rejecting racist student video
By Fakir Hassen, IANS
Johannesburg : South Africans across the spectrum have been unanimous in their rejection of a racist video made by four white university students that shows elderly black cleaning staff being humiliated, including eating food in which one of the students had allegedly urinated.
But two of the students have remained defiant in the face of criminal charges and internal disciplinary steps proposed by the University of Bloemfontein, claiming that they had merely made the video as a drama for a "cultural evening".
Russia says it’ll rebuild ties with old ally Cuba
By IANS,
Moscow : Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Cuba is one of Russia's "key partners" in Latin America, while announcing a renewal of economic ties and the visit to Moscow next year of Cuban leader Raul Castro, EFE reported Wednesday.
"Cuba has been and is one of our key partners in Latin America," Medvedev said after receiving Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.
Medvedev announced Russia's intention to increase its political and trade relations with Cuba, a country almost forgotten by the Kremlin in the decade after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Former Polish Communist head critically ill in hospital
By RIA Novosti
Warsaw : Former Polish leader, Wojciech Jaruzelski, has been admitted to a military hospital in a serious condition, his wife said on Wednesday.
Jaruzelski's health deteriorated after he was again accused by Polish historians of committing crimes against the Polish people.
"It seems to me that he is unwilling to live any longer," Barabara Jaruzelska said, adding that her 84-year-old husband has pneumonia and cardiac problems.
Husband watches adult films, British home secretary bills office
By DPA,
London : British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was in hot water Sunday over the billing to parliament of a pay-per-view package, which included the cost of two adult entertainment programmes.
Smith apologised for the billing of 67 pounds ($96) for the TV package which was mistakenly applied to her parliamentary allowance as a part of her Internet connection expenses, the BBC reported.
Smith added that the bill would be repaid to parliament in full.
Spain’s king pays surprise visit to troops in Afghanistan
Herat (Afghanistan), Jan 1 (IANS) Spain's King Juan Carlos made an unannounced visit to Spanish troops serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, EFE news agency reported Tuesday.
The monarch arrived here Monday aboard a Hercules transport plane from Kuwait, accompanied by Spanish Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso and officials of the military.
Officials said the journey was kept secret for security reasons. Juan Carlos will turn 70 on Jan 5.
Taiwan ready to buy 60 warplanes from US: official
By DPA,
Taipei : Taiwan is ready to buy 60 F-16C/D warplanes from the US and will pass the budget for the purchase as soon as Washignton approves the sale, a lawmaker said Sunday.
Lin Yu-fang, a member of the parliament's defence committee, made the remark in response to a newspaper report that a US official will come to Taiwan later this month to persuade incoming President Ma Ying-jeou to approve the purchase.
Four abducted Chinese workers freed in Sudan
By IANS,
Khartoum : Four Chinese workers who were abducted Jan 12 in Sudan's Darfur region have been released, the Chinese embassy here said Wednesday.
Putin honours soldiers killed in Chechnya battle
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: President Vladimir Putin laid flowers Friday at a memorial in western Russia to 84 soldiers who were killed in Chechnya March 1, 2000.
Australia to raise aid to Myanmar to $23.5 mln
By Xinhua,
Canberra : Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on Sunday Australia will raise its aid commitment to Myanmar to 25 million Australian dollars (23.5 U.S. dollars) in the wake of cyclone Nargis.
Smith told reporters in Perth, state capital of Western Australia, that this would include the initial 3 million dollars (2.8 million U.S. dollars) that the Australian government pledged on May 7.
The 25 million dollars would be evenly split between the UN flash appeal and Australian non-government organizations.
Man United eye Brazilian teenager Carlos
By IANS,
Rio de Janeiro: Manchester United could make a move for Brazilian teenager defender Antonio Carlos this summer.
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