World

Santiago, April 29: A 16-year-old boy stabbed his brother, 18, to death in the Chilean capital here after a quarrel while playing a videogame, police said.

The incident occurred Tuesday night when the two siblings were playing a videogame with two other friends, police said Wednesday.

The victim, Manuel Munoz Gonzalez, and his brother, whose name has been withheld, lived with their adoptive mother, who is at present on a business trip to Belgium, they said.

—-IANS

Beijing, April 29: China has agreed to build two new civilian nuclear reactors in Pakistan, a report said on Thursday, amid persistent concerns about the safety of nuclear materials in the restive south Asian state.

Chinese companies will build at least two new 650-megawatt reactors at Chashma in Punjab province, a newspaper said.

China began building a reactor at Chashma in 1991 and broke ground on a second one in 2005, which is expected to be completed next year, it said.

Washington, April 29: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has outlined several new initiatives to empower women around the world through technology training, public-private partnerships and grants and a planned entrepreneurship summit specifically for women.

Clinton announced the initiatives Wednesday at a breakfast for women from around the world, included two from India, who attended President Barack Obama’s entrepreneurship conference summit.

Dubai, April 29: He had the same first name as a renowned Hollywood plastic surgeon, a coincidence he used to practise on unsuspecting clients in Dubai a specialisation he did not have. But the show is now over.

The Court of Misdemeanour here, presided by Judge Jamal Jbeili, on Wednesday sentenced a 40-year-old American general surgeon to two months in jail and deportation.

He got a month in jail for using a fake labour card that said had been sponsored by the American Academy Hospital for Plastic Surgery and another month for practising without due authorisation.

New York, April 29: Sometime during the recession, work — or the lack of it became funny.

From oversleeping and missing a job interview to being fired for no reason, job woes are now a great source of humor, say Gregory Bergman and Jodi Miller, authors of “WTF? Work: How to Survive 101 of the Office’s Worst F*#!-ing Situations,” a new book that offers tongue-in-cheek job advice.

London, April 29: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised in person for describing a voter as “a bigoted woman” on Wednesday in an embarrassing gaffe before next week’s parliamentary election.

A campaign stop to meet locals in a northern English town backfired when Brown let slip the unguarded comment about grandmother Gillian Duffy, a supporter of his own Labour Party. It was picked up by a microphone on his lapel as he was driven away in his car after meeting her.

Kuala Lumpur, April 29: A Malaysian rights group said Wednesday it filed complaints to French prosecutors that allege shipbuilder DCNS paid kickbacks to a friend of Malaysia’s prime minister to aid a $1.2 billion submarine deal.

Malaysia ordered two diesel-electric Scorpene attack submarines in 2002 as part of a naval upgrade. Prime Minister Najib Razak was defense minister at the time.

United Nations, April 29: UN chief Ban Ki-moon met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak here Wednesday and voiced hope indirect Palestinian-Israeli talks would start soon.

A UN statement said the UN secretary general expressed his hope that “proximity talks between the parties would begin shortly.”

Ban and Barak, a former Israeli premier, “reviewed matters of mutual interest regarding the stability of the region, including Lebanon” and exchanged views on the Iranian nuclear issue, it added.

Washington, April 29: The U.S. military believes only a quarter of Afghans in key areas support President Hamid Karzai’s government and that political will to tackle corruption “remains doubtful,” according to a Pentagon assessment released on Wednesday.

The 152-page Pentagon report to Congress underscores the extent of concerns about Karzai’s ability to prove himself a viable partner to NATO efforts to turn the tide in more than eight-year-old conflict.

Philippines, April 29: The son of late Philippine democracy heroine Corazon Aquino appears headed for a landslide victory in next month’s presidential election, a survey said on Thursday.

Thirty-nine percent of the respondents said they would vote for Benigno Aquino, two percentage points higher than the previous survey in early April, independent pollster Pulse Asia Inc. said.

“With almost four in 10 Filipino registered voters supporting his presidential bid, Senator Aquino remains the leading presidential contender in the May 2010 elections,” Pulse Asia said.

Beijing, April 29: A knife-wielding man attacked and injured 28 young children and three adults at a kindergarten in eastern China on Thursday in the third such attack in a month, state media reported.

Five of the children were in critical condition after the attack, which was carried out by a 47-year-old man in the city of Taixing, according to Xinhua news agency, citing officials and police.

The alleged assailant was detained following the incident in Jiangsu province, the report said.

Thimphu, April 29: The prime ministers of India and Pakistan will sit down face-to-face Thursday, fuelling hopes of movement in the rival nations’ glacial progress towards resuming a substantial peace dialogue.

Despite scant expectation of any significant breakthrough, the mere fact that the two leaders have agreed to hold direct talks marks a step forward for a relationship that has been effectively frozen since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Sydney, April 29: Tobacco companies would be forced to use plain, logo-free packaging on their cigarettes in a bid to make them less attractive to smokers under legislation introduced Thursday by Australia’s government, which dubbed the move a world-first.

The rules, which would take effect July 1, 2012, would ban tobacco companies from including logos, promotional text or colorful images on cigarette packages. A government health warning would be prominently displayed instead, with the brand name relegated to tiny, generic font at the bottom.

Sacramento, April 29: The federal trial over California’s gay marriage ban moves to closing arguments in June, advocates from both sides of the case said on Wednesday.

Judge Vaughn Walker tentatively set the date for June 16, said Andrew Pugno, a lawyer for the coalition defending the ban passed by voters in 2008. Gay rights activists also said the hearing would be in June, with the date subject to agreement between the judge and lawyers.

Raleigh, April 29: A domestic Continental Airlines flight enroute to the US capital was diverted to North Carolina on Wednesday after an apparent bomb threat was found in the plane’s bathroom.

A message scrawled on an airplane restroom mirror “left the impression that it could be a bomb situation on the airplane,” said Ted Johnson, executive director of Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greenboro, North Carolina.

Beijing, April 29: A knife-wielding man wounded 28 children and three adults Thursday at a kindergarten in eastern Jiangsu province, the second such violent assault at a Chinese school in two days.

Five of the students were in critical condition in hospital, said Zhu Guiming, an official with the propaganda department in Taixing city. Zhu said two teachers and a security guard also were hurt.

The attacker was a 47-year-old local man, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Washington, April 29: Despite the passage of a sprawling healthcare bill, the American public is steadily losing confidence in receiving healthcare, survey suggests.

The Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index revealed on Wednesday that confidence lost three percentage points from a baseline of 100 in December to 97 in March.

“Strikingly, Americans expect the situation to worsen significantly in the next three months,” said Gary Pickens, chief research officer at Thomson Reuters.

London, April 29: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown goes into his final pre-election debate on Thursday trying to rescue his Labour Party from defeat while fending off a gaffe in which he called one of his traditional voters “bigoted”.

Brown, whose critics paint him as socially unskilled and bullying, was caught on tape on Wednesday complaining about a woman in her 60s who had challenged his 13-year-old Labour government’s approach to immigration.

Washington, April 29: A U.S. military official says the Navy had a close encounter with an Iranian surveillance jet last week in the Gulf of Oman.

The official says the jet buzzed a Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Eisenhower, coming within about 1,000 yards (meters) of the ship. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the April 21 incident occurred in international waters.

The jet was described as a maritime patrol aircraft generally used for surveillance.

Washington, April 29: Women are essential to the effort of the Obama administration to improve its relationship with the Muslim world, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.

“President (Barack) Obama is committed to promoting entrepreneurship to help seed conditions for broader and deeper economic progress.”

“And this week’s summit has focused on our efforts in Muslim majority countries. I know and you know that women are essential to this effort,” Hillary said in her remarks on Breakfast with Women Entrepreneurs Attending Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship.

Washington, April 29: The US has called for peaceful resolution of the current political impasse in Thailand and issued a travel alert for American nationals for that country.

“Our message remains what it has been since this situation evolved, which is to peacefully resolve the situation,” said Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J. Crowley.

Due to escalating violence in central Bangkok, demonstrations in Chiang Mai, and other incidents throughout Thailand, all US citizens should avoid non-essential travel to Thailand, the State Department said in a travel alert.

Washington, April 29: Top Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd would receive ‘Friend of India’ award for his contribution in strengthening the Indo-US relationship.

The award, instituted by the Connecticut chapter of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) would be presented to Senator Dodd at the GOPIO-Connecticut’s fourth annual gala on May 2 in Stamford.

Melbourne, April 29: A former right-wing leader in Australia has ignited a controversy by openly declaring that she would not sell her property to Asians who lived overseas, and to Muslims who she believes are not “compatible with our culture”.

Washington, April 29: President Barack Obama said that there may not be an “appetite” in Congress to immediately tackle the divisive issue of U.S. immigration reform.

Given the amount of work to do on energy legislation and lawmakers’ concerns about congressional elections in November, comprehensive immigration reform might be too much, he told reporters on board Air Force One when asked if he thought immigration reform could be passed this year.

Kathmandu, April 29: China on Wednesday made a spirited bid for increasing engagement with SAARC as it rolled out the red carpet for officials to Beijing and announced a hefty sum for the SAARC Development Fund (SDF).