Month: October 2009

At least 34 killed in north Yemen clashes

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Sanaa, October 03: At least 28 Shiite rebels, four Yemeni soldiers and two tribesmen were killed in the latest fighting in northern Yemen on the seventh week of an Army offensive, local and military sources said on Saturday.

Six of the Zaidi rebels and the four soldiers were killed in overnight clashes in al Kahoum, west of Harf Sufyan, the scene of heavy fighting on the road linking the capital with the Saada region, a rebel stronghold, a military commander said.

Local Taliban plans to target PM and Nawaz: Pak authorities

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Lahore, October 03: The local Taliban plans to target 35 top political leaders, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, during the campaign for upcoming by-elections to provincial and national assemblies, Pakistani authorities said on Friday.

U.S. Congress puts pressure on Obama over Afghanistan

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Washington, October 03: Leading Republican lawmakers on Thursday raised the pressure on President Barack Obama to make a decision on Afghanistan strategy, demanding his generals testify in Congress as the president weighs his next move.

But Defense Secretary Robert Gates flatly rejected the request and said it was inappropriate as Obama decides how to turn around an increasingly unpopular war that his generals say will be lost without a clearer strategy and greater resources.

No secrecy in Iran’s nuclear facility: President

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Tehran, October 03: World powers including the US have realised there was no secrecy over the country’s new uranium enrichment plant, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday.

The official news agency IRNA quoted the president as saying that despite Western propaganda, it became clear that Iran was not keeping secrets over the new plant located south of Tehran, near the religious city of Qom.

Ahmadinejad said Tehran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) out of respect for international regulations.

Myanmar minister holds talks with Suu Kyi

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Myanmar, October 03: Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi held a rare meeting with a minister from the ruling junta on Saturday, a government source said, a week after she offered to work for withdrawal of sanctions on the country.

The detained Nobel laureate met Aung Kyi, the junta’s Labour Minister assigned two years ago to act as a liaison between Suu Kyi and the ruling generals, at her lakeside home.

“The meeting lasted about 50 minutes, but I don’t know what was discussed,” an official from the Home Ministry, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

DF ministers face rebels in Raigad district

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Alibag, October 03: Two of the seven assembly segments in the coastal Raigad districts–Shriwardhan and Pen–are plagued by rebel candidates from the ruling Congress-NCP, giving sleepless night to Maharashtra ministers Sunil Tatkare and Ravi Patil. In Shriwardhan constituency, Power Minister Sunil Tatkare (NCP) is pitted against Congress rebel Gulam Peshimam who is known to be a close aide of former Union Minister Abdul Rehman Antulay.

New chief of Pakistani Taliban may be dead: US

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Islamabad, October 03: US intelligence agencies believe the newly named leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, might have been killed in a gunfight with a rival faction weeks ago.

Militants tapped Hakimullah to replace the group’s previous leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed by a missile fired from a CIA-piloted drone aircraft in his South Waziristan stronghold on the Afghan border August 5.

Hakimullah’s death, which officials said has yet to be confirmed definitively, would be another setback for the group, the Nation reported Saturday.

Banned groups with new names not to be spared under Pak law

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Islamabad, October 03: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has amended an anti-terror law allowing authorities to act against members of outlawed groups that set up new outfits with different names, a move which may have ramifications for LeT whose founder Hafiz Saeed floated JuD after it was banned.

Inter-Korean trade declines more than 20 percent

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Seoul, October 03: Trade between North and South Korea dipped more than 20 percent in the first eight months of this year due to soured relations on the divided peninsula, a lawmaker said Saturday.

Trade between the two Koreas fell 24.1 percent to $929.66 million from January to August from the same period last year, Noh Young-min, a lawmaker with the main opposition Democratic Party, said in a statement.

Ponting, Watson pulverize Eng into submission

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Centurion, October 03: Unbeaten centuries by captain Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson led holders Australia to a crushing nine-wicket win over England in Friday`s Champions Trophy semi-final.

Australia now meet the winners of Saturday`s match between New Zealand and Pakistan in Monday`s final at Centurion.

Ponting scored 111, passing 12,000 one-day international runs in the process, and Watson made 136 as Australia hit 258 for one in 41.5 overs.

Yoga may decrease age-related dowager’s hump

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New York, October 03: Are you at risk for dowager’s hump? Findings from a small study suggest you may want to try yoga to decrease this age-related curve of the upper spine.

Among a group of elderly study participants, those who did yoga for six months saw their upper spine curve lowered by about 5 percent compared to those who did no yoga, Dr. Gail Greendale, at the University of California at Los Angeles, and colleagues report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Texas begins USD 3 billion quest to cure cancer

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Austin, October 03: Texas gave birth to the modern oil industry, invented the handheld calculator and sent man to the moon. But can the Lone Star State cure cancer?

Texas is ready to try by investing $3 billion over the next decade in cancer research and prevention, which would make the state the gatekeeper of the second largest pot of cancer research dollars in the country, behind only the National Cancer Institute.

Over 65? Take lots of vitamin D to prevent a fall

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New York, October 03: Important news for seniors: A daily dose of vitamin D cuts your risk of falling substantially, researchers reported today.

But not just any dose will do. “It takes 700 to 1000 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day and nothing less will work,” Dr. Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, who directs the Center on Aging and Mobility at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, noted in an email to Reuters Health.

Gene that causes infertility ‘identified’

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Washington, October 03: Scientists have identified a gene which they claim causes infertility.

A team from Virginia Commonwealth University has found the role of the gene, Smad-3, in regulating molecular signals involved with ovarian follicle development, which may one day help shed light on the causes of fertility issues in humans.

Scientists identify form of a molecular messenger -Fas ligand

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Washington, October 03: Resolving a decade of debate, scientists claim to have distinguished two cell messengers one causing cell suicide, the other inflammation.

An international team, led by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, has identified the form of a molecular messenger called Fas ligand, which is responsible for killing cells during programmed cell death — also called apoptosis.

Communicating with nature makes you more caring

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Washington, October 03: Paying attention to Mother Nature not only feels good, it also makes you a better person, says a new study.

The study has been published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

“Stopping to experience our natural surroundings can have social as well as personal benefits,” says Richard Ryan, coauthor and professor of psychology, psychiatry and education at the University of Rochester.

Jane Austen’s Emma incarnated in Bollywood

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Nevada, October 03: Bollywood is trying its hand on bringing back Jane Austen’s Emma on the big screen in the incarnation of “Aisha”.
Sonam Kapoor, 24, will play the Bollywood version “Aisha” what Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow did in 1996 Oscar winner “Emma”. While Austen’s Emma was set in 19th century rural England, “Aisha” is based in present times in India’s capital Delhi. Shooting is currently on.

Ranbir Kapoor turns stoneman for ‘Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani’

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Mumbai, October 03: After Spiderman, Batman, here comes our ‘desi’ stoneman! According to latest news, Ranbir Kapoor will be seen as a stoneman in ‘Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani’. The chocolaty actor has been `stoned` in the film, which also stars ‘sexiest woman’ Katrina Kaif. Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, the film shows some interesting sequences in which, Ranbir will be seen as a statue and one day he will find out that the statue looks exactly like him!

Recipe: Dal Makhni

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Unable to make that perfect Dal Makhni? Try out this simple recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup Whole Urad Daal
1 Onion (finely chopped)
3 Green chilies (finely chopped)
2 tbsp Red Kidney Beans
A few Coriander Leaves (chopped)
4-5 flakes Garlic Paste
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Tomato (finely chopped)
1/2 cup Stirred Curd
1/2 cup Fresh Cream
2 tbsp Butter
1 inch Ginger (chopped)
1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
Red Chili Powder to taste
Salt to taste

Procedure:

Soak kidney beans overnight in water.

Iran security forces detain student activists

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Tehran, October 03: Iranian security forces arrested at least 15 student activists on Friday after a meeting of key members of a pro-reform student movement in Tehran, a reformist website reported.

The report on Mowjcamp.com said the police had not told the detained students’ families where they were being held.

It was not immediately possible to confirm the report, which came days after two large student gatherings in Tehran to protest against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election.

Jalili insists enriching uranium is Iran’s legal right

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Tehran, October 03: Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili reiterated on Friday that enriching uranium is Tehran’s “legal right” and it would continue as he returned from high-profile nuclear talks in Geneva.

“The right of (uranium) enrichment is part of Iran’s absolute right. One of the legal rights of Iran is to continue enriching activity for peaceful purpose,” Jalili told reporters at Tehran airport minutes after he arrived from Geneva.

Scientists detect chink in virulent stomach bug’s armour

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London, October 03: Scientists have detected a crack in the armour of the Helicobacter pylori, a common microbe that infects the stomachs of one-sixth of the world’s population, causing gastritis and ulcers.

They identified a group of substances that block a key chemical pathway that the bacteria need for survival. Their study could lead to new, more effective antibiotics to fight these hard-to-treat microbes.

Javier Sancho, biologist at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, and colleagues note in the new study that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria infect the stomach lining.

“Yes” side claims lead in Irish referendum on Lisbon Treaty

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Dublin, October 03: The “Yes” side was claiming that an exit poll showed strong support for the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty as vote-counting in Ireland’s second Lisbon Referendum got under way Saturday.

Opposition Fine Gael, who campaigned for a “Yes” vote, has claimed that an exit poll shows there has been strong support for the treaty, Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE reported.

The party carried out an exit poll using a representative sample of 1,000 voters in 33 locations around the country.

Momentum builds over Iran nuclear standoff

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Tehran, October 03: The head of the UN atomic watchdog is expected in Tehran this weekend after Washington and its allies demanded progress this month from Tehran in revived talks on the nuclear standoff.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei will meet Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, an Iranian official said in Geneva on Friday.

The visit will take place at the start of the Iranian week, which begins on Saturday, he added.