World

Marseille, December 29: The minaret of the new Grand Mosque of Marseille, whose cornerstone will be laid here in April, will be silent — no muezzin will disturb the neighborhood with the call to prayer. Instead, the minaret will flash a beam of light for a couple of minutes, five times a day.

Normally, the light would be green, for the color of Islam. But Marseille is a port, and green is reserved for signals to ships at sea. Red? No, the firefighters have reserved red.

Kualalumpur, December 29: Pirates seized a British-flagged chemical tanker and a Panamanian-flagged carrier off Somalia’s coast and were holding 45 crew members Tuesday, a maritime official said.

The two hijackings late Monday showed that pirates are relentless in their pursuit of quick money from ransom and that ship owners need to take extra precaution when sailing in the Horn of Africa, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Washington, Dec 29: Nine people, including six children, were killed in a fire in a multi-storey house on Monday in the southern US state of Mississippi, a media report said.

The fire broke out in the small town of Starkville early in the morning, when the victims were apparently still asleep, the Starkville Dispatch reported citing officials. Mike Chaney, the fire and rescue commander on the scene, said six children were among the dead.

Somalia, December 29:Somali pirates hijacked a UK-flagged chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden on the same day they released a Singapore-flagged container, pirates and maritime officials said on Tuesday.

Pirates said they had received a ransom for the Singaporean vessel Kota Wajar and freed the ship with its crew on Monday. The release was confirmed by the European Union naval force (EU Navfor) patrolling waters off Somalia.

We have received $4 million and released the ship and its 21 crew late on Monday, pirate Mohamed said.

Seoul, December 29: North Korea confirms arrest of US citizen for illegal entrySeoul, Dec 29 – North Korea said Tuesday it had detained a US citizen who illegally crossed the border from China, confirming earlier reports that the activist entered the Stalinist state.

Activists have said that Robert Park, 28, crossed into North Korea Friday, carrying a letter for leader Kim Jong Il asking him to liberate concentration camps and raise awareness of Pyongyang’s human rights abuses.

Washington, December 29: More bombers are on their way to target America, the Nigerian al Qaeda suspect charged for trying to blow up a US airliner has told FBI, setting alarm bells among intelligence and security apparatus here.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab told FBI that “there were more just like him in Yemen and would strike soon,” the ABC News reported quoting officials familiar with the investigation.

A tape released by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen some four days before the failed attempt to blow up the US plane, had said that “we are carrying bomb to hit the enemies of God”.

Washington, Dec 29: Like India, the US too is now grappling with the visa issue after the latest attempt by a suspected al-Qaeda operative to blow up a plane over US airspace.

While the matter of issuing a visa came under scanner in India after the recent arrest of David Coleman Headley, the terror suspect charged with involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the similar problem knocked the US door after a failed bid to blow up a plane in Detroit.

Washington, December 29: President Barack Obama vowed to respond aggressively to terrorism as an Al Qaeda faction claimed responsibility for last week’s foiled attempt by a Nigerian to blow up a US airliner.

Taking a break from his Christmas holiday in Hawaii, Obama in his first public comment since the Christmas Day incident on the Amsterdam-Detroit flight, said he directed his national security team to “keep up the pressure on those who would attack our country.”

Washington, December 29: The Headley case figured at number two in the 10 biggest cases of the year in a list in which the case of two young American extremists was placed on the top.

The arrest of Pakistani-American LeT operative David Coleman Headley, that busted an LeT plot to carry out terror strikes in India, has been classified by the FBI as its second biggest case for the year 2009.

The Headley case figured at number two in the 10 biggest cases of the year in a list in which the case of two young American extremists was placed on the top.

Washington, December 29: More bombers are on their way to target America, the Nigerian al Qaeda suspect charged for trying to blow up a US airliner has told FBI, setting alarm bells among intelligence and security apparatus here.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab told FBI that “there were more just like him in Yemen and would strike soon,” the ABC News reported quoting officials familiar with the investigation.

A tape released by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen some four days before the failed attempt to blow up the US plane, had said that “we are carrying bomb to hit the enemies of God”.

Washington, December 29: U.S. police are hunting a father who shot dead his 13-week-old baby daughter – because she had not been born a boy.

Daniel Hicks, 29, also gunned down the mother of his newborn daughter before going on the run.

Relatives told police in Seattle, Washington, that Hicks was disappointed his first born child was not a boy.

They said he was unhappy that his girlfriend Jennifer Morgan became pregnant and had failed to bond with his daughter Ema.

Morgan’s mother said he had expressed regret that his newborn daughter was not a boy.

Washington, Dec 29: The Headley case figured at number two in the 10 biggest cases of the year in a list in which the case of two young American extremists was placed on the top.

The arrest of Pakistani-American LeT operative David Coleman Headley, that busted an LeT plot to carry out terror strikes in India, has been classified by the FBI as its second biggest case for the year 2009.

The Headley case figured at number two in the 10 biggest cases of the year in a list in which the case of two young American extremists was placed on the top.

Washington, December 29: Like India, the US too is now grappling with the visa issue after the latest attempt by a suspected Al Qaeda operative to blow up a plane over US airspace.

While the matter of issuing a visa came under scanner in India after the recent arrest of David Coleman Headley, the terror suspect charged with involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the similar problem knocked the US door after a failed bid to blow up a plane in Detroit.

London, December 29: Returning home after an eight-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, Royal Marine James King might have expected some rest and relaxation.

But he had another mission to complete – saving the life of his little son.

Marine King, 29, gave one of his kidneys to three-year-old James Junior. And two months later, both father and son are thriving.

James Junior had been in and out of hospital throughout his life after doctors diagnosed a kidney malfunction while he was in the womb.

Kathmandu, December 29: As the Maoists planned to move ahead with an anti-government indefinite strike, the political crisis in Nepal deepened in 2009, amid indications that the former rebels may walk away from the democratic path it embarked on in November 2006.

Nepalese parties have failed to put in place a stable government as the country ended its third year of the peace process amid violence and political deadlock.

Sanaa, Dec 29: Somali pirates are holding a Yemeni cargo ship with 16 crewmembers on board in the Indian Ocean, officials said Monday.

The al-Mahmoud 2 had left the southern port of Aden Dec 18, Yemeni coastguards said.

The owner of the vessel notified the security agencies about the seizure, reported.

According to Yemeni officials, 41 cargo vessels were seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden region in 2009. About 20,000 ships pass through the area every year.

–Agencies

Washington, December 29: Taken the onus for the misdeed on a US airliner on Christmas Day, Al Qaeda has reportedly claimed by saying the attempt to blow up the plane was in retaliation for Washington’s role in helping the Yemeni government combat militants in the country.

The claim came as Yemen’s foreign ministry said late Monday that the suspect in the plot, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had left Yemen earlier in December after attending Arabic language classes there since early August.

Washington, December 29: The man accused of trying to blow up an airliner over Detroit has claimed he was just one of a string of recruits trained in Yemen and poised to attack, as the regional wing of al-Qa’ida said last night that it was behind the failed Christmas Day bombing.

In an online statement, al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula – believed to be an alliance of militants based in Saudi Arabia and Yemen – said it had armed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with an explosive device in retaliation for a crackdown on the group.

Washington, December 29: As an Al Qaeda faction claimed responsibility for last week’s attack on a US airliner, reports citing experts said a dangerous explosive allegedly concealed in the suspect’s underwear could have blown a hole in the plane.

Citing two federal sources briefed on the investigation for what could have happened, Washington Post Tuesday said authorities are still analysing a badly damaged syringe that Nigerian passenger Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly employed as a detonating device.

Toronto, Dec 29: Carry-on bags were also banned on the US-bound flights from Canada Monday even as tighter security measures threw departures into chaos.

The new security measures came into force at the weekend following Friday’s failed attempt by an al-Qaeda-linked Nigerian man to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight at Detroit.

Initially, the authorities banned only extra carry-on bags, apart from introducing physical searches at the airplane boarding gates.

Washington, Dec 29: US President Barack Obama has condemned Iran’s crackdown on protesters and asked the country to abide by international obligations in respecting the rights of its citizens.

“We call upon the Iranian government to abide by the international obligations that it has to respect the rights of its own people,” Mr. Obama said, as fresh protests erupted against the Iranian Government in which at least eight people have been reportedly killed.

Washington, Dec 29: President Barack Obama assured Americans on Monday the United States will defeat those behind an attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner and sought to blunt criticism that his response to the incident was slow.

Obama, who is on vacation in Hawaii, made his first public statement about Friday’s failed attempt to down a plane over U.S. soil, promising to track down anyone connected to it.

“The American people should be assured that we are doing everything in our power to keep you and your family safe and secure during this busy holiday season,” Obama told reporters.

Pyongyang, Dec 29: North Korea’s official said on Tuesday that a U.S. man had crossed into its territory and was arrested.

“On Dec. 24, a U.S. citizen illegally entered the country across the North Korea-China border and has been detained. The person is currently undergoing questioning by a related agency.” its official said.

Robert Park, 28, a U.S. activist trying to raise global awareness of the North Korean human rights situation, crossed into the reclusive North on Friday, other activists said.

–Agencies

Washington, Dec 29: The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will now give air captains discretion over when commercial airline passengers can move about the cabin and what they can have on their laps.

The update of airline security rules follows what U.S. government authorities called a thwarted attempt by an individual on Christmas day to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam.

President Barack Obama said that as a result of this oversight, he had ordered a thorough review of the screening process.

Washington, December 29: Nine people, including six children, were killed in a fire in a multi-storey house Monday in the southern US state of Mississippi, a media report said.

The fire broke out in the small town of Starkville early in the morning, when the victims were apparently still asleep, the Starkville Dispatch reported citing officials.