Month: September 2009

United Nations, September 25: The United Nations Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss the political crisis in Honduras and the future of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, a U.N. official said on Thursday.

Zelaya was overthrown in a coup in June, but on Monday he slipped back into his country and took refuge in Brazil’s embassy, triggering a tense standoff with the de facto government that has promised to arrest him.

Washington, September 25: In a bid to settle a long going war between the Palestine and Israel, the United States has on Thursday asked the Palestinians’ side to commence the negotiations with Israel “without preconditions”

Palestine has expressed displeasure over US President Barack Obama’s remarks; however, the Jewish state has welcomed his stand.

Obama’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly was “positive” and reflective of our stand; Israel’s hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted as saying by Ha’aretz.

United Nations, September 25: China dampened expectations of further sanctions on Iran on Thursday, telling other major powers that more pressure would not persuade Tehran to halt its nuclear program.

In contrast, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the U.N. Security Council the world should consider “far tougher sanctions” if Iran continues to seek a nuclear weapon.

New York, September 25: An Afghan-born airport worker was charged with planning a massive bombing campaign as authorities said they had foiled a string of similar but unrelated terror plots across the United States.

Najibullah Zazi, 24, was indicted in New York on charges of conspiring to launch a wave of attacks using homemade bombs constructed with chemicals bought in large quantities from beauty parlor supply stores.

Vienna, September 25: Iran has told the U.N. nuclear agency that it is running a new, previously undeclared, facility to enrich uranium, officials told The Associated Press Friday.

Iran is under three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for refusing to freeze enrichment. The officials said that Iran revealed the existence of a second enrichment plant in a letter sent Monday to International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

It had previously said it was operating only one plant, which is being monitored by the IAEA.

Amsterdam, September 25: One man died and several people were injured as two cargo trains collided and hit a passenger train Thursday night near Rotterdam, Dutch police said.

The driver of one of the cargo trains died and, according to police, “relatively few others were injured” when two cargo trains collided around 10.30 p.m. (2030 GMT) near Barendrecht outside Rotterdam.

A spokesperson from rail management company ProRail said the passenger train was hit when “one or more cars from the cargo train got sidetracked after colliding with the other cargo train.”

Russia, September 25: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday, appeared to move closer to backing new nuclear sanctions against Iran, saying such tactics were rarely productive but sometimes “inevitable.”

Medvedev spoke after talks with his US counterpart, as President Barack Obama warned Iran to seize the opportunity presented by talks with world powers in Geneva on October 1 to end a nuclear showdown.

France, September 25: French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday that a December deadline must be set for Iran to show progress in talks with world powers on its suspect nuclear programme.

“There will be a deadline and in my view it’s December,” Sarkozy said when asked about the prospect of sanctions against Iran if the stalemate continues over Tehran’s nuclear activities.

France is among the six powers dealing with the nuclear dossier that will be sitting down with Iran in Geneva next week.

New York, September 25: Japan’s new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Thursday his government will act as a bridge between nuclear and non-nuclear states because Japan has suffered the devastation of atomic bombs in 1945.

Hatoyama also said Japan will play the same role in economic fora, where the formulation of regulations dealing with financial markets are needed, including summits of the world’s 20 richest economies (G20).

New Delhi, September 25: Premier of Australia’s Victoria state John Brumby on Friday gave more assurances to the Indian government that Australia is committed to providing a safe and secure environment to all the foreign students living there including those from India.

Brumby, who is currently touring India to assuage any fears in India in view of a string of racial attacks on Indian students in Australia, said, “We have tightened laws in the State of Victoria to prevent racial attacks on foreign students.”

Manila, September 25: Ten communist rebels were killed Friday in two clashes with government troops in the eastern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said.

Nine guerillas died in fighting in a remote village in Pilar town in Sorsogon province, 345 km southeast of Manila, Lieutenant Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said.

Burgos said troops recovered eight assault rifles from the slain rebels.

Another firefight erupted between soldiers and a band of communist rebels in a remote village in Manito town in neighbouring Albay province, resulting in the killing of one rebel, he said.

Jerusalem, September 25: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert went on trial in Jerusalem on Friday on corruption charges, confidently predicting he would be acquitted of fraud, breach of trust and failure to report income.

“I came here as an innocent person and I believe my innocence will be proven,” said the 64-year-old centrist politician, who was forced to stand down last year because of the allegations that he took cash for favors.

Olmert is the first Israeli premier to stand trial.

Yangon, September 25: Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed US plans for a major policy shift that would see Washington engaging with the country’s military regime in a bid to promote reform.

Her comments, reported by her lawyer, came a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised the possibility of an eventual easing or lifting of sanctions if US engagement produces political changes in Myanmar.

New York, September 25: The US State Department said it is rethinking a decision to give $2.5 million in aid to Libya, including to foundations run by the Libyan leader’s sons, after lawmakers on Thursday asked it to cancel the plan.

In a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, two U.S. lawmakers said they were unwilling to give the aid because of the warm reception Tripoli recently gave a Libyan official convicted of involvement in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.