International

By IANS, Kathmandu: Accompanied by three ministers, Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Saturday left for his first official visit to China, pledging it would create a new high in economic ties. During the five-day trip, Nepal will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao, his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao and senior officials of the Communist Party of China. He will also speak on Sino-Nepali relations at Tsinghua University and tour Lhasa, Xian and Shanghai cities.

By DPA Kathmandu : One person was killed and several hurt in escalating pre-election violence in Nepal between rival political parties, media reports said Wednesday. A Maoist cadre was killed after clashing with Nepali Congress party activists in Solukhumbhu district, 200 km northeast of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. The clash erupted after the two rival parties gathered at the same venue to hold election campaign rallies, the independent Kantipur Television reported. At least 25 people, including a senior Nepali Congress leader and Maoist supporters, were injured in the clash.

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By DPA, Berlin : Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have expressed concern over the current oil price and called for greater transparency in the oil market. Fukuda, who met the German chancellor in Berlin Sunday, said the rapid rise in oil prices had to be taken seriously and that market signals had to be heeded. There was a need for more investment in exploiting crude reserves and increased efforts to save energy.

By IANS New York : The speed of walking may reveal how long an elderly person will survive, says a new study by scientists in the US. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh analysed data of 492 adults aged 65 and older for a decade and found that faster walkers are substantially more likely to outlive the slower ones. The study adjusted for gender, race, age, chronic illness and hospitalisation and found that walking speed appeared to be an independent predictor of longevity.

By Prensa Latina, Havana : Greek solidarity with the Cuban people, despite conservative pressure, was ratified Tuesday in statements published here in "Granma" newspaper by communist leader Aleka Papariga, who is visiting this country. The general secretary of the Greek Communist Party, third political force in her country, also stated that Cuba has had historic meaning for Greek activists. Papariga said her compatriots "have continuous fought policies affecting the Cuban people."

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow : Russia's largest state-controlled oil company Rosneft will purchase 68.3 billion rubles ($2 billion) worth of shares from its minority shareholders.

By DPA, Geneva : The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted Wednesday a resolution which praised the government of Sri Lanka for its commitment to human rights, while condemning the Tamil Tiger rebels. The resolution, tabled by Sri Lanka itself and other nations, including China, Cuba and Egypt, also allows the government to let aid agencies' have access to camps for the internally displaced "as may be appropriate". A bloc of Western nations, whose counter proposal was defeated, wanted full access for aid groups like the International Committee of the Red Cross and UN agencies.

By RIA Novosti, Nizhny Novgorod (Russia) : The toll in Saturday's nightclub fire in the Russian Urals city of Perm has reached 128, authorities said Thursday. "The number of fire victims has reached 128. In addition, 103 people remain in hospitals... and another five are receiving out-patient treatment," the regional emergency authorities said. The fire engulfed the Lame Horse nightclub in the west Urals city in the early hours of Saturday after an indoor fireworks display went awry.

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By KUNA Paris : Phone threats against Louis Sarkozy, the youngest son of the French president, were confirmed by Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie Tuesday, but she suggested the threats were the work of unbalanced persons. Two individuals are due to appear in court next month for having threatened the 10-year-old son of the president over a period dating from last summer and ending in early January, French weekly "Le Point" reported.

Moscow : The chiefs of BRICS central banks have signed an operating agreement on the currency reserve pool, Russia’s central bank said on Tuesday. The...

By IANS Colombo : A Tamil human rights activist and member of Sri Lankan parliament Mano Ganeshan said Saturday he was planning to flee the country in a couple of days because of the ever present threat to his life. Ganesan, who heads the Western Province Peoples' Front and the Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC), told IANS that following the drastic reduction in police security since Dec 19, the stage had been set for his "assassination". "I plan to leave the country in two or three days," he said, but declined to give his destination.

By Xinhua, Kathmandu : Chairman Prachanda of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) was nominated on Thursday to compete for the post of first prime minister of the federal republic of Nepal, local media reported. According to local FM radio station Kantipur, former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba from the Nepali Congress (NC) was also filed as another nominee for the prime minister post of the world's youngest republic.

By DPA London : Two British environmentalists have started an adventurous journey to Timbuktu in a lorry powered by bio-fuel made from renewable resources, including recycled chocolate. After starting their journey Friday, engineer Andy Pag and electrician John Grimshaw will drive their Ford lorry through France and Spain. Then they plan to drive across the Sahara, aiming to reach the remote city of Timbuktu, in the west African state of Mali, as their final destination.

By IANS, New York : Scientists have, for the first time, recorded the beckoning calls of endangered fin, humpback and North Atlantic right whales in the waters around this US city. "This is an exciting time for New Yorkers. Just think, just miles from the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building, Carnegie Hall and Times Square, the great whales are singing," said Chris Clark, director of the Bioacoustics research programme at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

By DPA Hong Kong : Police in Hong Kong Wednesday said that they had seized 320 snakes and three crates of snapping turtles bound for restaurant tables in China. The reptiles were found on board a speedboat intercepted in Hong Kong waters early Tuesday near the China Sea boundary. Two men were arrested for smuggling. The boat contained 20 boxes of common rat snakes, an endangered species worth an estimated $13,500. It was the biggest seizure of snakes in Hong Kong in the last two years, a police spokesman said.

By RIA Novosti, Beijing : Another two Russian aircraft will deliver humanitarian aid to southwest China, which was devastated by an earthquake May 12, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said on Monday. The quake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, affected eight provinces, with Sichuan suffering the bulk of the devastation. Around 34,000 people have been confirmed dead, with over 245,000 injured and a further 71,000 unaccounted for.

By IANS, Johannesburg : At least 19 people were killed and more than 50 others injured Monday when a bus crashed from a bridge in South Africa, media reports said.

By DPA, Johannesburg/Beijing : South African police said Thursday they had made three arrests in connection with an armed robbery Wednesday at the hotel of foreign journalists covering the World Cup. The journalists - two Portuguese and one from Spain - were held up at gunpoint in a room at a lodge in Magaliesburg, north-west of Johannesburg. The Portuguese team is staying nearby. Nobody was injured during the robbery, but the journalists had cameras, laptops, cell phones, passports and items of clothing stolen.

By Xinhua, Manila : Thirty-nine people, including three infants, died and 76 others were rescued after a passenger boat capsized Tuesday afternoon in the central Philippines, the police said. The MV Don Dexter Kathleen, with 119 passengers on board, capsized off the country's central province of Masbate when a sudden gust of wind hit the vessel at 1 p.m. local time (0300 GMT),said Reuben Sindac, police director of the province. But it is not clear there are how many crew members on the boat. At least four people are still missing.

By Xinhua, Brasilia : Some 2,000 white crosses were displayed on the streets of Rio de Janeiro Saturday to pay respect to the victims murdered in the northeastern Brazilian state. The crosses, placed on one of the most crowded stretches of the Aterro de Flamengo road, drew attention of many drivers and passersby. "We are in the middle of a social tragedy. The society needs to take action in order to avoid massacre," said Antonio Carlos Costa, president of the non-governmental Rio de Paz (Rio for Peace) organization, which planned the activity.

By IANS, Toronto : With the rapidly disappearing Arctic Ocean ice raising prospects of a scramble for rich seabed resources among neighbouring nations, Canada is flexing its muscle, extending its jurisdiction over the region from 100 nautical miles to 200. Until now, the Arctic Ocean ice bed melted only during summer months, opening the so-called Northwest Passage (from the Pacific to the Atlantic) for shipping activities. But with the Arctic ice-bed melting fast due to global warming, the Northwest Passage could remain open and thus navigable year-long for international shipping.

London : Following are the English Premier League standings after Saturday's matches (tabulated under matches played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against,...

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Buenos Aires : At least 500 people have died of cholera in Haiti, the health ministry said.

By Paras Ramoutar, IANS Port of Spain : Former Trinidad and Tobago prime minister Basdeo Panday will face retrial on charges of failing to declare financial assets as a public servant. Panday had been convicted in April 2006 on three charges of failing to declare an estimated $320,000 in a London bank account to the country's Integrity Commission. He was sentenced to two years of imprisonment, fined $10,000 and ordered to pay the state $320,000.

By Xinhua Brussels : Russia's ambassador to NATO dismissed on Friday NATO's call for Russian President Vladimir Putin to avoid "unhelpful rhetoric" at next week's NATO summit. In an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he hoped the Russian leader would refrain from making anti-West comments.

By DPA, Berlin : A German woman whose baby was found dead in a washing machine last year admitted Tuesday to killing another of her children. In October her partner had found the newborn girl dead in the washing machine of their apartment, north west of Leipzig in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. At the time, the 27-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, reportedly told her partner she had suffered a miscarriage and the dead baby had fallen into the toilet. In actual fact the child had been alive.

By DPA, Vienna : The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) issued a statement Tuesday that labelled the violent clashes in Kyrgyzstan as an attempt at ethnic cleansing. The wording was contained in a report by OSCE minorities High Commissioner Knut Vollebaek, who also said that the interim government of Roza Otunbayeva was no longer in control, despite her good intentions.

By DPA, New York : The chief of the UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), missing since Tuesday's devastating earthquake flattened the mission's headquarters in Port-au-Prince, has been confirmed dead, UN officials announced late Saturday in New York. Hedi Annabi, the Algerian civilian head of MINUSTAH, was found in the rubble. The bodies of his deputy, Luiz Carlos da Costa, and Doug Coates, who served as chief of the UN police force in Haiti, were also recovered from the toppled Christopher Hotel, where the mission was headquartered, the UN said.

By Xinhua, Lhasa : A Chinese court here Tuesday sentenced 30 people to jail terms ranging from three years to life for involvement in the March 14 riot in the Tibetan capital. The Intermediate People's Court of the region gave the verdict during an open court session. Two accused, Soi'nam Norbu, a driver with a Lhasa real estate company, and Basang, a monk, were sentenced to life. Soi'nam Norbu, 20, was involved in arson and assault on the police and fire-fighting personnel near the Johkang Monastery March 14, the court said in a release.

By RIA Novosti Moscow : With some 70% of the ballots counted in Russia's presidential elections, Kremlin-backed Dmitry Medvedev has gained 69.22%, enough to give him victory in the first round of voting. His nearest rival, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, was on 18.26%. Nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky had 9.96% of the vote and the leader of the tiny, pro-Western Democratic Party, Andrey Bogdanov, - 1.29%, according to Central Election Commission figures. 'DIRECT CONTINUATION' OF PUTIN ERA AHEAD

By IANS, Washington : A US Secret Service spokesman Wednesday said a letter addressed to President Barack Obama contained "suspicious substance", reported Xinhua.

By IANS, Moscow: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's youngest daughter is not marrying a South Korean diplomat's son, his spokesman has said in response to a recent newspaper report.

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By KUNA Brussels : NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said that the summit of the 26-member Alliance in Bucharest this week will not discuss membership of NATO for Ukraine and Georgia. "We are discussing their possible entry in the so-called Membership Action Plan, but the principle of NATO's open door is a sacred principle. NATO's door is open, including for Ukraine and Georgia, if they so wish," he told the Euronews TV here Monday night. Russia is expressing strong opposition to NATO membership of the two former Soviet Republics.

By DPA, New York : The major US equity markets want to try a new system that would temporarily halt trading in individual stocks that swing more than 10 percent in value, reports said Tuesday. A six-month pilot programme is being proposed to regulators intended to guard against events like the May 6 "flash crash" that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average suddenly plunge 1,000 points, or about 10 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people close to the matter. An announcement by regulators could come later Tuesday.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS, Kathmandu : Nepal's largest ruling party is asking for an investigation into a taped telephone conversation that purportedly records a prominent Maoist leader seeking NRS 500 million from a Chinese "friend" to buy MPs ahead of Sunday's prime ministerial election. The ex-rebels say they would conduct a probe themselves.

By Prensa Latina Washington : For the first time Thursday, the US admitted there is a top secret maximum security jail within Guantanamo base, which is in Cuban territory against the will of its people and authorities. Guantanamo Prison commander Mark Buzby declared the facility Camp 7 is used to isolate alleged leaders of Al-Qaeda and the Afghan resistance. Camp 7 holds 15 people rated as "highly valuable captives," 14 of whom were directly transferred from secret CIA prisons, Buzby told Associated Press.

By Sudeshna Sarkar,IANS, Kathmandu : Cadres of Nepal's ruling Maoist party have caught five Tibetans and handed them over to local police for allegedly crossing into Nepal illegally in a bid to take part in the "Free Tibet" campaign against the Chinese government. The group, including two Tibetan women, were caught by members of the Young Communist League (YCL), the controversial strong arm of the Maoists that has been frequently known to take the law into its own hands.

Moscow : Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) would create tensions with Moscow even if there...

By DPA, London/Paris : Commemorations to mark Armistice Day, the day guns fell silent at the end of World War I 90 years ago, were held in Britain and France Tuesday. In London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown attended the solemn ceremony and two-minute silence which were led by the three remaining survivors of the Great War, now all well over 100 years old. In France, ceremonies held at Verdun, the major Franco-German battlefield, were led by President Nicolas Sarkozy and attended by Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall.

By Bernama, Manila : At least 32 passengers on the sunken Philippine ferry "MV Princess of the Stars" have been rescued, local police said Monday. Superintendent Eduardo Somera of Quezon Provincial Police Office said so far, five people are confirmed death following another unidentified dead body was washed ashore. It is believed that survivors were on rubber boats, and are bing sent to nearby hospitals to receive treatment, Somera told China's Xinhua news agency on Monday. All the 32 survivors are adults, said Quezon disater relief officials.

By IANS, London : A London court has been hearing how two suspected terrorists messaged each other on the internet, employing the chatty and informal language of teenagers while planning deadly attacks on targets in London and Glasgow. The prosecution told Woolwich Crown Court Kafeel Ahmed, an Indian PhD student in Britain, and Iraqi-born doctor Bilal Abdulla had discussed via internet messaging how they would "start experiments sometime soon" months before the June 2007 attacks.

By RIA Novosti Moscow : Japan plans to establish cooperation with the new Russian president in all spheres, including work on a peace treaty, a Japanese diplomat said. "No substantial progress has yet been made on the territorial issue, but the two countries' governments continue to make active moves to solve it, and we would like to establish comprehensive cooperation, with a view to signing a peace treaty with Russia's new leadership," said Akira Imamura at the Japanese embassy in Moscow Wednesday.

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has constituted a federal cabinet committee to suggest measures and relief efforts that Islamabad can undertake for Myanmar's...

By IRNA Berlin : The German government here Wednesday confirmed media reports that it was preparing a legislation which would allow the Federal Crime Office (BKA) to wiretap legislators, lawyers and clerics in specific cases. The spokesman of the German Interior Ministry Stefan Paris said an expert draft has been finalized, however "no decision" has yet been made. The German cabinet has to agree on the final version of the draft, he added. A date for a cabinet meeting to discuss the proposal has not been scheduled yet, according to Paris.

By DPA, Kathmandu : Incessant monsoon rain across Nepal has left at least two people dead and displaced hundreds, media reports said Saturday. At least five districts in western and southern Nepal were hard hit by flooding following days of heavy rain, Himalayan Times newspaper reported. Two people were swept away in the Jyamire river after heavy monsoon rain caused flash floods in Dailekh district, about 350 km west of the capital Kathmandu, the newspaper said. Hundreds of people have been affected by flash floods and landslides in other parts of the country.

By Prensa Latina Washington : A US-Albanese lobby named Albanese-US Civic League gave US Republican candidate for president John McCain a million dollars for his support to the independence of Kosovo, said digital website www.serbianna.com on Thursday. "We support McCain because he did everything we asked him to do to support the Kosovo Liberation Army," said Joe DioGuardi, a member of the Albanese-US Civic League.

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By SPA Jakarta : Indonesia will host the 2nd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in Bali on January 28-February 1, ANTARA reported. "President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated to open the conference," Director for Legal Affairs and International Agreement of the Foreign Ministry Eddy Pratomo said on Friday. He said more than 1,000 representatives from 140 countries consisting of 104 parties and 36 signatories as well as from international institutions and non-governmental organizations would attend the meeting.

By IANS, Geneva: The ozone layer outside the Polar regions will take 40 years to recover to its pre-1980 levels, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Friday.

By IANS, Colombo : At least three prison inmates in Sri Lanka were shot dead by prison guards when they attempted to escape from a jail Friday, police said. According to police spokesman S.S.P. Ranjth Gunasekera, the three victims attempted the jailbreak after stabbing one of the prison guards at a jail in the southern Galle district Friday afternoon. Galle is located 116 km south of capital Colombo. “The wounded prison guard was rushed to the Galle district hospital and the situation has been brought under control,” Gunasekara said.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS Kathmandu : Indian tobacco giant ITC has had little cause for cheer on the 59th Indian Republic Day in Nepal as trade unions backed by the Maoists shut down its tobacco factory in south Nepal, the second such disruption in three months. Surya Nepal, ITC's majority-held joint venture that is also one of Nepal's largest revenue earners, has its tobacco factory in Simra town in frontier district Bara closed since Wednesday with its Maoist-affiliated trade union raising a fresh 15-point demand.

By IANS/EFE, Mexico City : Mexico's tourism policy, which promotes development of enormous hotels in remote areas, produces an over-exploitation of natural resources and a "collapse" of the ecosystem, a leading environmentalist has said. The tourism model applied in Mexico "over the last few decades consists of choosing a site and developing it until all the natural resources are gone, so that for years afterwards these areas are basically in a state of collapse," oceanographer Octavio Aburto, who works with US-based Scripps Research Institute, said Tuesday.

By IANS Pretoria : The South African government has opened to visitors a unique Freedom Park that has two heritage themes based on the wall inscriptions of heroes who fought eight great wars and a monument for spiritual enrichment. The Wall of Names is a series of inter-connecting walls inscribed with the names of men and women who died during the eight conflicts that shaped South Africa, BuaNews reported.

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By DPA, Tokyo : At least three people were reported killed and 13 missing after a freighter collided with a fishing boat off southern Japan, newspaper report said Sunday. Rescue teams were searching for the missing crewmen after a Hong Kong freighter and a Chinese fishing boat collided Friday on the East China Sea, the Japan Times said. The report said the fishing boat sank immediately after the collision and two members of its crew were rescued.

By Bernama Jakarta : Indonesia will host an annual meeting of the Chiefs of Defence (CHOD) of Asia-Pacific countries in the tourist resort island of Bali in November 2008, Antara news agency quoted the Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI) spokesman N Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen as saying here. The annual meeting will discuss various issues relating to military cooperation in Asia-Pacific countries, he said following a meeting between TNI Commander General Djoko Santoso and the chief of the United States Pacific Command (PACOM), Admiral Timothy J Keating, here on Thursday.

It is truly appalling to see that a tragedy so conspicuously painted in racial terms reduced and represented as a show of hostility against...

By IANS, London: Pop diva Madonna has turned reporter for Israel's biggest-selling newspaper Yediot Ahronot. The superstar, an avid follower of the Kabbalah faith, has joined the editorial team of the Israeli publication for a one-off special piece on her religious beliefs, reports contactmusic.com. The "Music" hitmaker's byline appeared on the front page of the newspaper Wednesday, along with an excerpt from her article, "How My Life Changed", which is due to be published in full Friday.

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By DPA, Frankfurt : European shares slumped more than two percent in opening trading Wednesday, picking up on a downbeat end to Wall Street and steep falls in Asia. As renewed concerns emerged about the outlook for the global economy and profits, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 began the trading day down 2.5 percent at 2,286 points. The fall was mirrored across key national European markets with shares in London, Frankfurt, Paris and Zurich all sliding by more than two percent.

By IANS, New York : The Nepali government should revoke its new ban on women under the age of 30 from working in Gulf countries, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

By DPA, Rome : Italian Police Tuesday arrested a fugitive mafia boss while he was on holiday with his wife and daughters in the Sicilian seaside resort of Taormina, media reports said. The 33-year-old Paolo Rosario De Stefano was picked up during a morning raid on a rented holiday home in the northeastern Sicilian town. An alleged boss of the Ndrangheta Calabrian mafia, De Stefano had been on the run since 2005 and appears on the list of Italy's 30 most-wanted fugitives, compiled by the interior ministry.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS

Kathmandu : Though King Gyanendra's 15-month regime, marked by violation of human rights, arbitrary arrests and a media gag ended more than a year ago, torture still continues in Nepal with the Maoist guerrillas outdoing the army, a report said.