New Delhi,September 28:A convention planned by Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association (JTSA) to mark the one year anniversary of Batla House encounter has invited representative of major political parties except Congress and BJP.
Kabul,September 28:August had the most fatalities this year for civilians in Afghanistan because of the country’s disputed election, and violence could rise again when the final results are released, a U.N. report warns.
About 1,500 people died in Afghanistan from the beginning of the year to August, according to the U.N. report released this week.
The report did not say what the death toll was for August.
New York, Septembe 28: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna conveyed New Delhi’s serious concerns about Pakistan-based militant groups to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi during what he called “useful, constructive and candid” talks in New York on Sunday.
“We told Pakistan that India still has serious concerns about terror groups there and underlined the need for concrete and effective steps against these entities,” he told reporters after a 100-minute meeting with Qureshi.
Baghdad, September 28: Iraqi commandos and U.S. forces have arrested a suspect in the 2006 kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi taekwondo team whose highway ambush became one of the symbols of Iraq’s lawlessness during its worse years of sectarian violence.
The U.S. military announced the arrest in a statement Sunday, but did not say when it took place or identify the suspect. The Iraqi military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Juba, September 28: There is a “real chance” that the 2011 referendum on the future of South Sudan will lead to a vote for the region to break away from Africa’s largest nation, the regional president said on Sunday.
Sudan is at “a historic crossroads,” Salva Kiir told political party leaders at a conference in the south Sudan capital.
An estimated two million people died in two decades of civil war which ended in 2005 with the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement proposing national elections in 2010 then a referendum in 2011 on the future status of the south.
Sholapur, September 28: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar says he wants to retire from politics and give younger leaders a chance. Plain enough but his party members are guessing who the younger leaders are going to be.
“It is time for the younger generation to play a greater role and for me to slowly step back. Isn’t that a good idea?” said Pawar, 69, at an election rally of the NCP in Sholapur on Sunday.
Hyderabad September 28: I will not take any independent decisions. I will do what my party leadership wants me to do,” says Konijeti Rosaiah, who took over as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh three weeks ago under tragic circumstances after the sudden death of YS Rajasekhar Reddy (YSR).
Nevertheless, the septuagenarian leader, who says that the Congress high command is his godfather, is settling down in the new position even as his Cabinet colleagues and party leaders continue their campaign to anoint YSR’s son, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, as chief minister.
New Delhi, September 28: The IIT faculties and the Human Resources Ministry seem to be at loggerheads with each other. Just how serious is the standoff, or has the situation been misunderstood? That was the key issue that Karan Thapar explored on Devil’s Advocate in an interview with the Union Minister for Human Resources Development, Kapil Sibal.
Venezuela, September 28: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi called for a NATO-like defense alliance for Africa and South America as leaders from the two continents agreed to link up to gain more clout as economic and political blocs.
Gadhafi and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez led about 30 presidents in calling for stronger “South-South” ties at a two-day summit ending Sunday that was the Libyan ruler’s first visit to Latin America.
“We have to form a NATO for the south,” Gadhafi said Saturday. “And that’s not a terrorist action. We have a right.”
New York, September 28: India Sunday conveyed to Pakistan its serious concerns about terror groups in that country and demanded concrete and effective steps against these entities.
“We told Pakistan that India still has serious concerns about terror groups there and underlined the need for concrete and effective steps against these entities,” External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told reporters after a two-hour meeting here with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Washington, September 27: The top U.S. military official flew to Germany for an unannounced meeting on Friday with his commander in Afghanistan to discuss a request for more troops, military officials said.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met for several hours at a U.S. military base in Ramstein, Germany, with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who is expected to hand over his troop request in the coming hours to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Dubai, September 27: Al Qaeda’s Yemeni wing is targeting Saudi individuals to ask for donations to support its fight against the U.S.-allied government of Sanaa, Al Arabiya television reported Sunday.
The campaign comes at a time when Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa, is battling Shi’ite rebels in the north and sporadic violence in the south where secessionist sentiment is running high.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, is the largest Arab economy and the birthplace of Islam.
Beijeng, September 27: Upgraded missiles will feature prominently in China’s Oct 1 military parade which celebrates 60 years of Communist Party rule, the Xinhua news agency said, citing a commander of the service that controls nuclear weapons.
The parade of goose-stepping soldiers, well-rehearsed school children and flowery floats will illustrate the nation’s priorities of modernization and military strength.
Foreign observers will be watching to see what weapons the People’s Liberation Army shows off.
Washington, September 27: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged in an interview broadcast on Sunday that it would be difficult to meet the Obama administration’s January 22 deadline for closing the Guantanamo detention camp.
Asked directly whether that deadline would be met, Gates told ABC’s “This Week” program, “It’s going to be tough.”
Recent reports have suggested the administration may not meet the deadline because of legal, political and diplomatic issues involving the detainees at the controversial prison at a U.S. naval base in Cuba.
New Delhi, September 27: The All India Heart Foundation (AIHF) will launch an awareness drive for heart diseases among women, which they consider the most neglected and least prioritised group in the society.
A brainchild of AIHF president S. Padmavati, the campaign, which would be implemented by “The Red Brigade of Women”, aims at addressing the susceptibility of women to heart diseases.
The 10 member “brigade” would not only comprise women doctors and a nursing superintendent but would also include housewives and young women professionals.
Hyderabad, September 27: The differences in Andhra Pradesh’s ruling Congress over Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s successor again erupted Sunday as a group claiming to support the late chief minister’s son, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, torched two buses in Rajahamundry town to protest a party MP’s remarks on the issue.
Ratnagiri, September 27: One person was killed and two seriously injured as two motorcycles collided on Goa-Mumbai highway near here, police said.
The deceased has been identified asd 22-year-old Mali, they said the injured have been shifted to hospital.
—Agencies
Iran, September 27: Iran test-fired three short-range missiles on Sunday as the Islamic republic began war games two days after the UN nuclear watchdog disclosed it was building a second uranium enrichment plant.
Hossein Salami, air force commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, said that on Monday there would also be a test-firing of the long-range Shahab 3 missile which Iran says has a range of 1,300-2,000 kilometres (800-1,240 miles) and could hit arch-foe Israel.
Ramadi, September 27: A suicide car bomber on Sunday killed four Iraqi policemen and wounded four others near the predominantly Sunni Arab western city of Ramadi, a police official said.
The attack happened around 10.30 am (0830 GMT) 10 kilometres (six miles) north east of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, which was an Al-Qaeda stronghold in the aftermath of the US-led invasion in 2003.
“The suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate at the entrance to the police station, causing the casualties,” the police official said.
Riyadh, September 27: A Saudi prince is negotiating to buy a stake in Liverpool Football Club, his office said on Sunday, in a deal the media said could be worth as much as 350 million pounds (559 million dollars).
Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah, a businessman based in Al-Khobar in eastern Saudi Arabia, is currently discussing the deal with the owners of Liverpool, Azhari Kowa, a spokesman for the prince’s Fama Group, said.
“Prince Faisal is in London now discussing the purchase,” Kowa said, without elaborating.
Jerusalem, September 27: Israeli police on Sunday broke up scuffles between Jewish and Muslim faithful at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a flashpoint site in the Old City revered by both faiths.
The clashes erupted after a group of Jewish worshippers went to pray at the site known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as the Temple Mount, police said.
New York, September 27: The United States and key Arab states expressed concern Friday for the unrest in northern Yemen and offered “full support” to President Ali Abdullah Saleh as his army fights Shiite rebels.
The statement followed talks in New York involving Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan.
“The ministers … noted their concern for the situation in Yemen,” said the statement that came on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly here.
Libya, September 27: Libyan leader says creation of ‘NATO of the South’ by 2011 will counter military bloc of US, European powers.
With key energy accords on the table at the second South America-Africa (ASA) summit here, Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi upped the ante Saturday with calls for the creation of a “NATO of the South” by 2011.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has long sought to improve relations among non-Western nations, opened the meeting in the locked-down scenic resort of Isla Margarita, where the Venezuelan military has set up checkpoints and banned all weapons.
Australia, September 27: The Rudd government will reveal an improvement of up to $10 billion in the past year’s budget bottom line this week, while the increasing strength of the economy is forcing Treasury economists to greatly upgrade their forecasts for the next three years.
The improvement could slash $75bn from the government’s debt and bring the budget back into surplus by 2014-15, a year earlier than expected, according to market economists, The Australian reports.
Mumbai, September 27: MNS chief Raj Thackeray today said though all are aware about the easy availability of the fake voter I-cards, no one is raising this issue.
“Bogus voters I-cards are easily available and still no one, especially political parties like Shiv Sena, is taking up this issue,” Raj said.
“I wonder if the elections would be held on the basis of such cards,” he said launching party’s poll campaign for Maharashtra Assembly polls.