Thiruvananthapuram, August 16: Amid suspense over the arrest of PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani in Bangalore blats case, Joint Police Commissioner of Bangalore Alok Kumar arrived here Monday morning to hold discussions with police top brass in Kerala.
The arrival of Kumar alongwith Deputy Commissioner Omkarayya fuelled speculation that the PDP leader, against whom arrest warrant is pending in Bangalore blasts case is pending, is imminent.
Ciudad Juarez, August 16: Fourteen people were killed in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico’s drug-infested murder capital on the US border, including swim-suited revellers attending a pool party, authorities said.
Ciudad Juarez is Mexico’s most violent city, where narcotics cartels fight daily over drug-smuggling routes into the United States.
Gunmen opened fire on the pool party in central Ciudad Juarez, “killing three women and a man and wounding five other women, all of whom were wearing swimsuits”, the chief prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Washington, August 16: US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has warned against a military strike against Iran over its nuclear program, saying it would be “incredibly destabilizing.”
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Admiral Mike Mullen said he believes that America’s main ally Israel understands that a military attack on Iran would be “incredibly destabilizing” to the region.
Iran has repeatedly downplayed US threats of launching an attack on Iran, saying its armed forces are fully ready to counter any military actions against the country.
Thrivanthapuram, August 16: The Kerala High Court has asked police to protect a Muslim woman, an engineering graduate, who complained that she was facing threats for wearing modern dress and abandoning burqa or headscarf.
In her petition, Rayana R Kazi has named one Muhammed Kavugoli as the respondent, a man who claims to be an activist of the Popular Front of India (PFI).
The front, considered a fanatic Muslim body, is accused in the case of chopping off the hand of a Catholic teacher last month.
Seoul, August 16: South Korea and the United States launched a new round of war games on Monday involving tens of thousands of troops, despite threats of retaliation from North Korea.
The 10-day computerised military exercise is one of a series being staged by the South either alone or jointly with the United States in the aftermath of the sinking of one of its warships in March.
Pyongyang warned on Sunday that its Army and people would “deal a merciless counterblow” to the United States and South Korea over the war games.
Washington, August 16: Republicans pounced on US President Barack Obama’s comments supporting the right to build a mosque near Ground Zero, painting him as out of touch less than three months before key mid-term elections.
Democrats and Republicans squared off on whether it was appropriate for Obama to wade into the fray over the Islamic centre, which would include a mosque and would be built two city blocks away from the site of the former World Trade Centre.
Islamabad, August 16: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he has never seen anything like the flood disaster in Pakistan, and urged foreign donors to speed up assistance.
Ban’s comments after surveying the devastation over the weekend reflect the concern of the international community about the unfolding disaster in Pakistan, which is battling al-Qaida and Taliban militants, has a weak and unpopular government, and an anemic economy propped up by international assistance.
Tehran, August 16: Popular Iranian footballer Ali Karimi, sometimes described as “the Maradona of Asia,” has been fired by his club for not fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the club said.
Steel Azin FC said on its website www.steelazin.com that it was “forced to sack one of its players, Ali Karimi, for being disobedient and not fasting during Ramadan,” when devout Muslims fast from dawn until dusk.
Srinagar, August 16: India marked the anniversary of its independence from British rule yesterday, but celebrations were married by turmoil in Kashmir.
Thousands of people held protests against Indian rule in Kashmir after security forces shot dead six protesters in two days and beefed up security for Independence Day.
Indian Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar and other parts of the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley have recently been rocked by some of the biggest pro-independence protests in two years.
Abu Dhabi, August 16: US Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey said he is holding talks in the UAE, Bahrain and Lebanon this week on sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council on Iran over its nuclear programme.
West Yorkshire, August 16: Muslims across West Yorkshire and the world are marking the most important month in the Islamic calendar – Ramadan.
But one non-Muslim from Bradford is taking part in the holy month in a bid to gain a better understanding of how her Muslim friends are feeling.
Eilish Bromley works with the youth service in Bradford. She’s not Muslim but will begin fasting this year.
She explains her reasons behind it. She says: “I’ve got a lot friends who are Asian and they’re fasting so I want to respect their religion and fast.
Washington, August 16: USpresident Barack Obama, who strongly backed the building of a proposed Muslim community center and mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, has defended his decision to wade into the controversy the night before, but backed off from his previous stance.
“In this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion,” Obama said when questioned about his remarks at a White House dinner on Friday marking the start of Ramadan.
New Delhi, August 16: Daman Singh, the novelist daughter of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, says her new book is about lost innocence and how childhood as an experience has changed over the years. Hers certainly was different from that of today’s GenY, she says.
Daman Singh, whose second novel “The Sacred Grove” (HarperCollins-India) is just out, says some of her “childhood impressions” have crept into her work.
Afghan, August 16: They march proudly in line… the women soldiers leading Afghanistan hopefully towards a brighter tomorrow.
The 29 women are the first female recruits to train as officers in Afghanistan’s army, proof that the Taliban’s iron grip on the country is loosening.
They have signed up at a military college near Kabul. Among them are wives and mothers, dressed in the same battle fatigues and desert boots as the men.
A black hijab headscarf is their only concession to femininity.
Pretoria, August 16: Street children in South Africa will now be provided shelter by the government and helped in leading a better life free from exploitation.
Police and the Health and Social Services in Pretoria have started an initiative where they are seeking out children begging at road intersections and offering them instead a place of safety, BuaNews, the national news agency, reported.
Moscow, August 16: Officials say the poisonous smog that contributed to a higher death rate in Moscow has returned to Russia’s capital.
Alexey Popikov of weather monitors Mosecomonitoring says the concentration of carbon monoxide in Moscow air early Sunday was more than five times what is considered normal.
He says, however, that by Monday winds will disperse most the smog. Acrid smoke from forest and peat bog fires blanketed Moscow until early this week, nearly doubling the number of recorded deaths and grounding planes in airports.
New Delhi, August 16: The Supreme Court is so worried about the misuse of the dowry harassment law that it wants the Centre to assess it again.
The court has also said that lawyers should not encourage clients to file false complaints alleging dowry harassment and should ensure “that the social fibre of family life is not ruined”.
The court made the observations while quashing a criminal complaint filed by one Manisha Poddar against her husband Manish and his family. Manisha’s complaint, registered in 2007, said that her in-laws had demanded a luxury car from her parents.
Jerusalem, August 16: The Israeli government approved Sunday a new building plan in the West Bank despite the 10-month settlement freeze and warned against any international conditions to the start of direct dialogue with the Palestinian government, Israeli media reported Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved Sunday a plan to build 23 portable structures in different settlements in the West Bank in order to allow 600 scholars to continue their studies in the coming year.
Srinagar, August 16: Once a decorated officer of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, 52- year- old Abdul Ahad Jan earned notoriety on Sunday when he hurled a shoe at chief minister Omar Abdullah.
His peers claimed that the suspended policeman was mentally unstable had started “ going downhill a long time before he snapped on Sunday”. Jan lives with his wife and two children in a small house in the Ajas area of Bandipora district in north Kashmir.
Kadapa, August 16: Mr. Adinarayana Reddy, Congress MLA from Jammalamadugu has said that Kadapa MP Mr. YS Jaganmohan Reddy would not leave the Congress party as was being publicized by a section of the media.
Hyderabad, August 16: Lashing out at the State government for increasing liquor sales in the state, the State BJP president Mr G Kishan Reddy has said that the State government, which was running the government in the name of Mahatma Gandhi, was violating the aims of the Mahatma by selling liquor limitlessly.
Hyderabad, August 16: The TRS senior leader Mr Nayani Narsimha Reddy warned the Seemandhra Ministers to tender an apology to the Telangana people for submitting a memorandum to the Justice Srikrishna Committee dubbing the Telangana protagonists as national betrayals, within a week, or else face serious repercussions.
Speaking after hoisting the national flag on the occasion of 64th Independence Day celebrations at TRS Bhavan here on Sunday, Mr Nayani exuded confidence that the next Independence Day celebrations would be held in separate Telangana State.
Hyderabad, August 16: The PCC president Mr D Srinivas has sought the co-operation of Seemandhra leaders for the creation of separate Telangana state, keeping away their emotions in a democratic manner.
After hoisting the national flag on the occasion of Independence Day celebrations at Gandhi Bhavan here on Sunday, Mr Srinivas has opined that it was good for the Telugu people to remain as brothers even after the State was bifurcated.
Hyderabad, August 16: Though the Nation is celebrating 64th Independence Day, the country has not achieved substantial progress in eradicating poverty and backwardness, stated Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday.
Addressing the gathering after unfurling the Tricolour to mark Independence Day celebrations at NTR Trust Bhavan on Sunday, Mr Naidu expressed concern over the plight of poor people and said that the benefits of freedom had not reached them even after more than six decades.
Hyderabad, August 16: Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi on Sunday admitted that there are ‘some leaders who are angry at the party leadership’ and said that he is working to address their grievances.
The PRP chief was addressing the gathering after unfurling the National Flat go mark Independence Day at party office in Jubilee Hills.
Mr Chiranjeevi called on his party cadre to leave their personal difference aside and work alongside him to strengthen the party.