Banasilan, July 04: More than a thousand Muslim rebels have been killed in the southern Philippines over the past year, despite the recovery of only 278 bodies, according to a military spokesman.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce also said he knew of only 22 soldiers killed in the fighting, despite claims by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that its rebels had killed 500 soldiers in its current offensive.
London, July 04: The speed with which England vacated the field at Edgbaston on Friday afternoon revealed plenty about their mindset in the lead-in to next week’s first Test in Cardiff.
The time was 5pm on a perfect summer’s afternoon, and the opportunity was there for at least another hour and a half of fine-tuning. However, it was not deemed necessary by England’s think tank, who have seen enough already, and just want to get the proper action underway now.
New Delhi, July 04: As nervousness gripped him during India’s thrilling chase in the third one-dayer against West Indies, coach Gary Kirsten said he drew comfort from skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s presence at the crease.
“Someone like MS Dhoni can hit the ball out of the ground at any time so it was comforting knowing that we had him at the crease controlling the game,” said Kirsten.
Man of the match Dhoni, hit an unbeaten 46-run knock to take India through in the rain-truncated third ODI and take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series.
London, July 04: Marcus North has urged detractors of Phillip Hughes not to read too much into the Australia opener’s failures against England’s back-up bowlers ahead of next week’s first Ashes Test.
Highly-rated Hughes has just four days to solve the dilemma of how to handle the predictable bouncer barrage heading his way in Cardiff after twice being found out by England’s discarded paceman Stephen Harmison in the final warm-up match in Worcester yesterday.
Panaji, July 04: The 117-year-old Konkani theatrical form, ‘Tiatre’, is craving to win a slot in state’s educational curriculum to avoid it waning away from young minds.
Goa Tiatre Academy (GTA), the institution conceived to support `tiatre’, state’s oldest drama form, said that the students should know about this conventional theatre.
Tiatre is a part of Goan culture. Even today, it handles social issues tactfully through theatrical performance.
Anything that is against the Goans’ well-being is whipped in it, Tomazinho Cardozo, GTA President told reporters here.
Hyderabad, July 04: The months of July and August will present a grand spectacle for the skygazers across the country as a rare astronomical event – a series of triple eclipses, commences from July 7.
“The sequence of the first triple eclipse will be a penumbra lunar eclipse (in which the moon will be darkened by the earth’s shadow) occuring on July 7, which will be followed by a solar eclipse on July 22 and then another lunar eclipse on August 7,” N Raghunandan Kumar, General Secretary of city-based Planetary Society, said here today.
Srinagar, July 04: The central police welfare fund today sanctioned Rs one lakh as scholarship in favour of 54 children of personnel of Jammu and Kashmir police who laid down their lives while fighting militants or while in service, a police spokesman said here.
These children are presently studying in various educational institutions across the state.
–PTI
Kabul, July 04: Amid the worsening security situation in war-battered Afghanistan, American troops work to allay Afghan concerns over US military presence in their country.
The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to oust the Taliban and seek out al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
Nearly eight years after the US-led invasion of the country by coalition forces, Afghanistan is still in the grip of insecurity and poverty.
Beijing, July 04: Torrential rains and flooding forced more than 150,000 people from their homes, cut power and destroyed crops across southern China, state media reported Saturday.
More than 47,000 people were evacuated in the Guanxi region after three days of heavy rain flooded the Rongjiang River, destroying houses and inundating crops, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
New Delhi, July 04: DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has asked his party colleague and IT and Communication Minister A. Raja to respond to allegations that he pressurised a judge to give bail to two men accused in a criminal case.
‘Kalignar (as Karunanidhi is referred to) has sought a clarification from Raja. He (Raja) has given a reply. I don’t know what his reply was,’ a top DMK functionary told IANS here.
Karachi, July 04: Pakistan is seriously considering recalling Mohammad Asif in the 30-member preliminary squad for this September’s ICC Champions Trophy after the International Cricket Council (ICC) said it would not raise any objection against the pacer’s inclusion once he completes his doping ban.
An ICC spokesman has said that once Asif completes his one-year ban on Sep 22 this year, he will be eligible to take part in any international event including the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in South Africa. The biennial tournament is scheduled to get underway Sep 24.
New Delhi, July 04: The CPI(M) Polit Bureau on Saturday met here to find an end to the disunity in its Kerala unit with the two top State leaders — Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and State party Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan — sticking to their stand.
Mr. Achuthanandan and Mr. Vijayan are understood to have presented their case in the meeting at AKG Bhavan, the CPI(M) headquarters, here on the first day. Sources said they have stuck to their position.
Islamabad, July 04: Pakistan has sealed its South Waziristan border with Afghanistan and imposed a curfew there to prevent Afghan militants from infiltrating into its territory in the wake of fresh offensives by US troops on the Taliban on the other side of the border.
US Marines push deeper into southern Afghan townsThe Pakistan Army has already deployed additional troops at the border on the directives of the federal government, the Online news agency said on Friday.
A curfew has also been imposed in the border areas to stop the likely infiltration of Afghan militants.
Dhaka, July 04: Torrential rains triggered landslides and flash floods killing six people and stranding half a million in their homes in Bangladesh, officials said on Saturday.
The landslides occurred near Habiganj district town, some 200 km (125 miles) northeast of the capital Dhaka on Saturday, burying all six members of a family.
Dhaka, July 04: Torrential rains triggered landslides and flash floods killing six people and stranding half a million in their homes in Bangladesh, officials said on Saturday.
The landslides occurred near Habiganj district town, some 200 km (125 miles) northeast of the capital Dhaka on Saturday, burying all six members of a family.
Washington, July 04: Queen’s University biologists have revealed that insight into the locust’s brain may offer a novel way to manipulate human brain to stave off diseases like migraines, stroke, and epilepsy.
The researchers said that a similarity in brain disturbance between the insect and human sufferers of migraines, stroke, and epilepsy could open pathways for development of new drug therapies.
Patna, July 04: RJD chief Lalu Prasad today demanded tabling of the Liberhan Commission report in Parliament during the ongoing budget session and said that demolition of Babri Masjid was one of the “greatest crimes” against the secular character of the Constitution. Now that the Commission has submitted its report, it was mandatory on the part of central government to immediately make the report public, Prasad told reporters.
London, July 04: Scientists are focussing on bacteria-killer proteins known as colicins to potentially open the way to new medicines.
A team led by Colin Kleanthous, biology professor from the University of York, will study how colicins use decoys to mimic key parts of the cells’ own protein machinery to evade their defences.
London, July 04: Pop star Madonna may be sued by members of the legislative assembly of St Petersburg for using foul language to promote her upcoming show in the Russian city. The pop star used a Russian expletive at the beginning of an online audio teaser for her ”Sticky and Sweet” concert, upsetting city dignitaries and officials, reported Contactmusic.
Wellington, July 04: Three people have died of swine flu in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health announced on Saturday, reporting the country’s first fatalities from the H1N1 virus.
It said the chief coroner had reported that it was “strongly probable” the H1N1 virus was a major factor in the death of a 19-year-old man in Hamilton on Sunday and a 42-year-old man in Christchurch on Thursday.
A Ministry statement said that a young girl with underlying medical conditions died on Saturday morning in Wellington Hospital after testing positive for swine flu.
Tokyo, July 04: Japan condemned North Korea’s latest missile launches Saturday as a “serious act of provocation” against security in the region.
“It is a serious act of provocation against the security of neighbouring countries, including our country,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura was quoted by Jiji Press as saying.
The government’s top spokesman also said the act was against a UN Security Council resolution, according to Jiji.
London, July 04: A new breed of sweet potato is being touted as the superfood of the future, with experts saying the vegetable may stop people from getting cancer.
The designer sweet potato, grown for its anti-cancer purple pigment, is also said to contain anti-aging and antioxidant chemicals, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Soyoung Lim, a researcher from Kansas State University, developed the variety of sweet potato with a purple skin and flesh to boost its cancer-fighting properties.
Kabul, July 04: Militants exploded a vehicle outside the gates of a U.S. coalition base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, sparking a two-hour gunbattle that ended when American troops called in airstrikes, officials said. Two U.S. troops were killed and four were wounded.
More than 30 insurgents were killed by the airstrikes in Zerok district of Paktika province, said Hamidullah Zawak, the provincial governor spokesman.
Peshawar, July 04: Clashes between tribesmen and Taliban militants left 16 people dead in Pakistan’s northwest on Saturday, officials said, in the latest violence between pro-government tribal militias and insurgents.
Also Saturday, the Taliban said it shot down a helicopter that crashed Friday in the northwest, killing 26 government troops. The government blamed it on a technical problem.
Abu Dhabi, July 04: The National Centre for Metrology and Seismology predicted hazy and hot-to very hot weather for Saturday. Towering clouds may appear over the eastern mountains by afternoon.
The winds will be light to moderate in general, freshening at times during afternoon causing blowing sand and dust over western and internal open land areas. This may reduce the horizontal visibility.
Relative humidity will increase during night with chances of fog over some coastal and interior areas.