Washington : Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to meet in another two weeks to continue with their peace parleys after the first-round of United States-initiated direct talks. Special U.S. Envoy for the Middle East Peace, George Mitchell, said the two leaders agreed to meet September 14-15 in the Middle East, although an exact location has not been determined. Both he and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would also be there in the region, ...
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Mogadishu : Two extremist insurgents disguised as government soldiers went on a shooting rampage in a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday killing 30 people, including six legislators, before blowing themselves up. The brazen attack by the Al-Qaeda-inspired Al-Shabab just a stone's throw from the presidential palace marked a new escalation on the second day of clashes that had already left 29 civilians dead across the Somali capital. “Thirty people died in this ambush. Six of them are members of the ...
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Manila : The chief of police in the Philippine capital on Tuesday admitted shortcomings in the handling of a hostage-taking incident that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead. Director Leocadio Santiago said that while police followed the correct procedures in handling Monday’s hijacking of a tourist bus, he noted some deficiencies. “We saw some obvious shortcomings in terms of capability and tactics used or the procedures employed and we are now going to investigate this,” he told a ...
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Beijing : More than 40 people were killed in the crash landing of a Chinese passenger plane in north-eastern China late on Tuesday, state media reported. The bodies of 43 people had been recovered from the wreckage, Xinhua news agency reported early Wednesday citing local officials. Another 53 people were hospitalized with injuries following the crash. The Henan Airlines plane, a Brazilian-built Embraer E190, overshot the runway at Yichun City in Heilongjiang Province on a flight from Harbin ...
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A 12-hour hostage stand-off on a hijacked Philippine bus ended in bloodshed Monday, with officials saying at least seven Chinese tourists were dead along with the disgruntled ex-policeman who seized their vehicle in a bid to get his job back. At least six captives survived, four of whom were seen crawling out the back door of the bus after Philippine police stormed it Monday evening when the hostage-taker started shooting at the 15 Chinese tourists inside, said police Senior Superintendent ...
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SINGAPORE : Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Sunday exuded confidence that she would be able to form a new government despite the fluid political situation. In televised comments to the media, Ms. Gillard was emphatic in hinting that the ruling Labour was ahead of the Opposition Liberal-National Coalition in the race to form a minority government after Saturday's general election. “Labour has recorded the biggest two-party-preferred vote.” And, the crux of the Australian ...
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BAMAKO : Two Spanish aid workers kidnapped almost nine months ago by an al—Qaeda affiliate have been set free and were en route on Monday to the capital of neighbouring Burkina Faso, a Spanish official and a diplomatic source said. The release happened just days after a Malian who was sentenced in Mauritainia for the kidnapping was extradited back to his home country. Al—Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, had demanded his return as a condition for the release of the two aid ...
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Washington : With Pakistan unsure about taking $5 million in flood aid from India, the U.S. has said politics should have no role in disaster response and it “expects” Islamabad to accept the assistance. “In terms of responding to a disaster, politics should play no role. You have a country (India) that’s willing to help (Pakistan), and we expect that Pakistan will accept,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. Last week, Minister of External Affairs S.M. Krishna had called ...
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Muzaffargarh (Pakistan) : India on Friday offered Pakistan assistance of $5 million in relief material for the victims of the massive floods that has caused widespread damage to life and property across the country over the past fortnight. The assistance was offered to Pakistan by External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna this evening when he telephoned his counterpart Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi. According to a release put out by the External Affairs Ministry, Mr. Krishna offered the ...
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Washington : U.S. President Barack Obama sent his congratulations to all who will celebrate the 63rd anniversary of India’s Independence this weekend and said, “Indians around the world can not only look back on their history with pride, but can also look ahead to a future filled with hope and further progress.” Speaking on behalf of his entire administration and the American people Mr. Obama noted that ever since August 15, 1947, India’s non-violent struggle for freedom, its rejection ...
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Washington : A former ISI chief credited with creating the Afghan Taliban, has said his country's Army will not change its India-centric policy unless the Kashmir issue is resolved. “The kind of terrorism which is going on in Pakistan is due to Kashmir issue,” Hamid Gul, the former head of the Inter Services Intelligence who is believed to have created Kashmiri militants groups and finds frequent mention in the documents released recently by the whistle-blower site WikiLeaks, claimed in ...
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LONDON : Prime Minister David Cameron’s office says he is meeting with Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari for the first time since he criticised his ally’s approach on terrorism. Mr. Zardari will join a Thursday dinner being held in honour of his late wife Benazir Bhutto at Mr. Cameron’s country residence Chequers, near Aylesbury, west of London. Last week in India, Mr. Cameron accused elements in Pakistan of allowing the “export of terror,” suggesting not enough has been done ...
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Washington : India and the U.S. on Friday evening signed the much-debated agreement on modalities for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, under the civilian nuclear deal between the two countries. The agreement on arrangements and procedures for reprocessing was signed at a State Department ceremony by Indian ambassador Meera Shankar and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns. Pursuant to Article 6(iii) of the bilateral ‘123 Agreement' on civilian nuclear ...
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Gaza : Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed a Hamas commander and wounded 11 other people. Warplanes fired missiles at five targets across Gaza, including Gaza City, last night for the first time since Israel's three-week offensive in the territory ended 18 months ago. Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the territory, said the man killed was Issa Batran, 42, a commander of its military wing in central Gaza and a rocket maker. Eight of its supporters and three civilians were ...
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Cambodia : A war crimes tribunal sentenced the former Khmer Rouge chief jailer and executioner to 35 years in prison on Monday for overseeing the deaths of thousands of people during a genocidal rule that devastated a generation of Cambodians. Victims and their relatives who wanted a life sentence for the 67—year—old Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, burst into tears after learning that he could face just 19 years behind bars after taking into account time already served and other ...
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London : BP’s embattled Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward will be replaced by American Robert Dudley on October 1, the company said on Tuesday, as it reported a record quarterly loss and set aside $32.2 billion to cover the costs of the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP said the decision to replace Mr. Hayward, 53, with the company’s first ever non—British CEO was made by mutual agreement. In a mark of faith in its outgoing leader, BP said it planned to recommend him for a ...
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A top U.S. official on Sunday pledged continued support for African peacekeeping efforts in war-torn Somalia, as Uganda's president urged African leaders to unite against terrorism just weeks after Somali militants set off deadly twin bombings in Uganda. President Yoweri Museveni told some 35 heads of state who convened in Uganda's capital for an African Union summit that the continent needed to step up its efforts against terror. "Let us work in concert to sweep (terrorists) out of Africa," ...
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Islamabad : Describing Pakistan's lawless tribal belt near Afghanistan as the "global headquarters" of Al-Qaeda, top American military commander Mike Mullen has said the US believed that the terror network's chief Osama bin Laden and his deputy Aiman al-Zawahiri are in this country. The presence of these terrorist leaders in the region is a reason why "a principal part of the overall Af-Pak strategy is focussed on elimination of safe havens" for them, Mullen told reporters in Islamabad last ...
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JOHANNESBURG : Nelson Mandela will come out and greet fans ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final at Soccer City, his grandson said. The 91-year-old anti-apartheid icon will then go home and watch the final between Spain and Netherlands, Mandla Mandela told The Associated Press. “He said that he wants to come out and greet fans at the stadium,” Mr. Mandla said, adding that the former president was now resting so he could be “fresh and energetic” for the appearance. Mr. Mandela has kept ...
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The Israeli military has made radio contact with the ship carrying aid from Libya for the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian official in contact with the crew said on Tuesday. Jamal al—Khodari, the head of Gaza’s Popular Committee against the Siege, said the Israeli military warned the crew to sail to the Egyptian port of al—Arish, rather than attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian territory. But the crew and passengers were determined to go to Gaza and would not ...
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