Bahrain, August 31: A traditional wooden ship with Indian crew sailing from the United Arab Emirates toward Bahrain was the target of the first act of sea piracy reported in Persian Gulf waters in years, according to details of the attack that emerged Sunday.
The Bahraini dhow was intercepted Friday night by another ship with an armed crew, security sources said.
Bogota, August 31: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has contracted the influenza A (H1N1) , also known as swine flu, officials said Sunday.
Presidential press secretary Cesar Mauricio Velasquez read a government communique in which it was announced that Uribe has swine flu. In Bogota, officials with the National Health Institute, or INS, confirmed the diagnosis.
San Francisco, August 31: Police on Sunday continued to seek answers to how a convicted sexual predator was able to kidnap a young girl and keep her, along with the two children she bore him in captivity, for nearly two decades.
Despite warnings from neighbours, law enforcement failed to notice that something was seriously wrong at the home of convicted rapist Phillip Garrido, 58.
Scores of police continued to comb the home of suspects Garrido and his wife Nancy, 54, in connection to the abduction and captivity of Jaycee Lee Dugard, now 29.
Cape Canaveral, August 31: Space shuttle Discovery closed in fast on the international space station for a Sunday night linkup more than 200 miles above the planet.
A thruster failure made the rendezvous all the more challenging for shuttle commander Rick Sturckow.
One of Discovery’s small thrusters began leaking shortly after Friday’s midnight liftoff and was shut down. None of the little jets was available for the rendezvous and docking, and Sturckow was going to have to use the bigger, more powerful primary thrusters, making for a somewhat bumpier, noisier ride.
California, August 31: A wildfire raging in a long stretch of the heavily populated Los Angeles foothills is threatening 10,000 homes as it marches toward communities on the other side of the mountains.
The heat-driven fire nearly doubled in size overnight and has now burned burned 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares) of bone-dry brush in the mountains above five towns, a 10-mile stretch from La Crescenta to Pasadena, the California Fire Department said.
Berlin, August 31: Data from exit polls in Germany was widely distributed via the online service Twitter Sunday, breaking a confidentiality law and upsetting electoral officials.
The data was embargoed until 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) Sunday when polls closed, but began coursing hours earlier through Twitter, a web service that broadcasts very short personal messages. The originator of the initial message was anonymous.
Survey companies compute the most likely poll outcome about four hours before voting booths close, based on interviews with voters who have just cast their ballots.
Cameroon, August 31: Cameroon’s state-run television says two train crashes within 24 hours have killed at least 11 people.
Minister of Communication Issa Tchiroma Bakary told the broadcaster today that nearly 400 people were injured in the crashes in the capital Yaounde.
A petroleum-loaded cargo train collided with another train Friday morning in southwestern Yaounde. Two firefighters were killed when four petroleum tankers exploded. More than 100 people were injured.
Islamabad, August 31: Pakistan today rejected an allegation that it had illegally modified US-made Harpoon missiles to enhance its ability to attack land targets, including in India, saying “no modification has been made to the missiles under reference”.
The Foreign Office spokesman “rejected the accusation” in the report in The New York Times that Pakistan had illegally modified Harpoon anti-ship missiles, originally meant for defensive purposes, to strike targets on land.
In a brief statement, the spokesman said “no modification has been made to the missiles under reference”.
Melbourne, August 31: Soma Joseph had come here from India with big dreams but a year after her arrival she is in a state of disarray.
Hoping for greener pasture, the woman from Kottayam in Kerala, who worked as a nurse in Saudi Arabia earlier, had come here last year as a student with her husband Biju. She had taken admission to Community Welfare course in Melbourne International College, a private institute.
Scotland, August 31: Kenny MacAskill’s insistence that he released the Lockerbie bomber solely on judicial grounds has been seriously undermined following claims by a senior Scottish government source that the nation could have become a target for Islamist terrorists if Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi had died a martyr in a Scottish prison.
Meanwhile in London, Gordon Brown was dragged into the centre of the row as it emerged that the decision to include al-Megrahi in negotiations over prisoner transfer was not taken at the sole discretion of Jack Straw, the UK Justice Secretary.
Kabul, August 31: As Afghans await results from a fraud-tainted election, major military operations and continued terrorist attacks reflected on Sunday the challenge faced by the next president and Western powers.
In operations mostly concentrated in the south and the east of the country, where the Taliban presence is heaviest, Afghan security forces, backed by international troops, claimed success against an increasingly virulent enemy.
New Delhi, August 31: Good news for all the radio listeners. People who love to hear the news and want to know what is going out globally? All of them might able to hear the news sourced from news agencies in near future.
On Saturday an Indication has came from a source in the information and broadcasting ministry, according to which it is expected that may be private radio channels will soon endorse to broadcast news sourced from various active news agencies in phase III of FM radio. From a long time the Private FM radio broadcasters have been urging to air the news bulletins.
New Delhi, August 31: Inspirational skipper Bhaichung Bhutia once again holds the key as India aim for a 2007 encore against Syria to clinch their second successive Nehru Cup title in the final of the five-nation football tournament here tomorrow.
Two years ago at the Ambedkar Stadium, the home team had beaten the Syrians in front of a 20,000-strong crowd to win their maiden Nehru Cup title after losing to the same opponents in their round-robin fixture.
New Delhi, August 31: The Indian Cricket Board has cancelled its contract with event management company IMG World, which played a significant role in the success of the first two editions of the cash-rich Indian Premier League.
The decision to snap ties was taken after the BCCI Working Committee refused to approve the terms and conditions of the contract.
BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, who negotiated the agreement with IMG senior vice-president Andrew Wildblood, conveyed the board’s decision to the company in a letter.
Jammu, August 31: Four officers of Jammu Agriculture department in Ramban district have been suspended for being absent during duty hours.
Director of Agriculture, Jammu, Vinod Bala Sharma was inspecting seed production farm at Banihal (Tethar) when she suspended four officers for being absent at duty yesterday, officials said.
Sharma was inspecting the development activities and arrangements for Rabi 2009-10 season in the district.
Kathmandu, August 31: Terming it as “unconstitutional” a defiant Nepalese Vice President today refused to obey Supreme Court’s directive asking him to re-take oath of office in Nepali language or resign from his post.
While the government asked Vice President Parmananda Jha to follow the apex court’s order by taking oath again at the end of a seven-day deadline today, his aides indicated he was going on leave for an indefinite period.
Mumbai, August 31: A bomb threat was received tonight following which search operations were being carried out at two suburban railway stations in the city, police said here.
An anonymous call was received by police claiming that explosives were planted at Andheri and Mumbai Central railway stations.
The bomb detection and disposal squad teams were pressed into service and search operations were still on, police added.
—PTI
Georai, August 31: Police have registered a case against a former minister’s son for allegedly assaulting the employees of District Credit Co-operative Bank.
The accused assaulted bank employees saying that they were refusing loan to his party workers.
Georai police have registered a case of atrocity against and are investigating further.
—Agencies
Gorakhpur, August 31: With five more children succumbing to encephalitis, the total toll in the division due to the disease has mounted to 210, officials sources said.
Five more children have died due to encephalitis at BRD Medical College here, while 145 patients are being treated during the last 24 hours, Additional Director Health L P Rawat said, adding 22 fresh cases were admitted in different hospitals.
Thane, August 31: WIth the arrest of three persons including one from Andhra Pradesh, Thane police today claimed to have trapped an inter-state counterfeit corrency gang which was dealing in the circulation of fake notes of Rs 100 denomination in various states in the country.
Giving details of the racket, chief of the Anti Extortion CEll of the Thane Police Commissionerate Sunil Patil said that the racket had been going on for a quite some time.
Aurangabad, August 31: The mysterious death of four persons in the city today created panic among people here.
These four persons found lying dead in a gutter (nullah) on the Osmanpura-MIT College road today.
The cause of the deaths is not yet ascertained but people in the accompanying residential areas are panicked with the deaths.
Four people died in the Marathwada region due to swine flu, recently. Aurangabad Municipal Corporation officers have not yet taken cognizance of the incident as it was holiday today (Sunday).
—Agencies
Hyderabad, August 31: Heavy rains lashed this Andhra Pradesh capital Sunday, inundating low-lying areas and throwing normal life out of gear.
The rains, which began in the late hours, caused severe inconvenience to people living in low-lying areas and especially to those who wanted to go out for sehr and Namaz.Most of the people were forced to stay back in their homes.
Low lying areas in Panjagutta, Khairatabad, Lakdi ka pul, Erram Manzil, Mehdipatnam, Toli Chowki and Dilsukhnagar and several other neighbourhoods were flooded.
Spa-Francorchamps, August 31: Giancarlo Fisichella grabbed a spectacular second spot for the Vijay Mallya owned Force India at the Belgian Grand Prix, finishing behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, and grabbing the first ever Championship points for his team in the process.
While this was obviously Force India’s first ever podium finish, what gladdened the hearts of the team’s followers was the tremendous grit displayed by the 36-year old Italian throughout the race.
Mumbai, August 31: Priyanka Chopra talks on the love of her life in a chat with Swati Chaturvedi of Spicezee.com. Excerpts from the interview ‘Kahiye Janab’.
Q: How did you end up in the film industry? Was it difficult?
Paris, August 31: Obesity has emerged as a possible contributing factor in fatal swine flu cases, according to ground-breaking research looking at deaths caused by the pandemic in countries around the world.
The claim is made by a team from the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance, which has studied the characteristics of 574 deaths associated with the pandemic H1N1 influenza.