Month: October 2009

Kabul, October 01: The troops hunting for the young private have little to go on: He disappeared near the border with Pakistan, his Taliban captors released a propaganda video of him two weeks later, downcast and frightened. Then, at least publicly, nothing about the only U.S. soldier missing in the Afghan war.

Washington, October 01: Top US military leaders support sticking with the current strategy in Afghanistan.

The commander of the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, the head of the regional Central Command, General David Petraeus, and the top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, all endorse the counter-insurgency strategy now being carried out in the Afghan war Instead of a smaller-scale mission focused on hunting down Al-Qaeda figures, press secretary Geoff Morrell said.

New York, October 01: The wealthiest Americans are getting poorer, losing 300 billion dollars of their net worth over the past 12 months.

The annual Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans found legendary investor Warren Buffett had lost the most cash — 10 billion dollars — as his holding company Berkshire Hathaway suffered severe losses.

Topping the list was Microsoft founder turned disease-battling philanthropist Bill Gates, whose net worth was estimated at 50 billion dollars, down seven billion from last year.

Samoa, October 01: Police in green reflective vests searched a ghastly landscape of mud-strewn streets, pulverized homes and bodies scattered in a swamp Wednesday as dazed survivors emerged from the muck and mire of an earthquake and tsunami that killed 119 in the South Pacific.

Los Angeles, October 01: If Los Angeles prosecutors succeed in extraditing Roman Polanski from Switzerland to face sentencing for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, the film director will find that U.S. courts treat his crime more severely than 30 years ago.

When Polanski pleaded guilty for the 1977 crime, in which he also was accused of plying the girl with champagne and sedatives, an agreement with prosecutors called for him to be sentenced to the 42 days he had already served in jail.

Washington, October 01: The US Congress voted to triple aid to Pakistan in a five-year commitment aimed at bringing development to the frontline nation and reducing the allure of extremism.

President Barack Obama has enthusiastically supported the 7.5-billion-dollar package, calling it a long-term investment to fight Al-Qaeda extremists by building schools, empowering women and strengthening the civilian government.

New Delhi, October 01: Rescue workers pulled bodies from a lake in southern India on Thursday after a boat carrying tourists capsized, killing at least 37 people.

The vessel overturned in the Thekkady tiger reserve, in the coastal state of Kerala, when passengers rushed to one side to observe a herd of wild elephants, police said.

“We have removed 37 bodies out of the water and will continue the search operation until all bodies are pulled out,” senior police officer Jacob Punnoose told AFP.

Washington, October 01: In preventing violence against women and girls in Liberia, Indian women peacekeepers have set an example that must be emulated in UN peacekeeping missions across the world, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.

“I recently met with an all women police unit from India in Liberia who provide an excellent example of the steps a UN mission can take in cooperation with the host government to prevent violence against women and girls,” Clinton told the Security Council Wednesday.

Samoa(America), October 01: First came the shaking, so violent that whole houses rocked back and forth. Then, after five or 10 minutes, came the massive waves of water that smashed villages, tossed cars, boats and trees, and carried away people who screamed amid the roaring torrents.

Disaster officials from across the South Pacific flew food, medicine and temporary morgues to the Samoas, where search parties combed muddy swamps, coastlines and shattered buildings for survivors Wednesday after a powerful earthquake and tsunami killed at least 119 people.

New York , October 01: Two Indian American journalists are among the four winners of the prestigious 2009 Knowledge@Wharton Awards for Business Journalism, sponsored by the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), the Wharton School and the Knowledge@Wharton online business journal.

The Indian origin winners are Sonia Narang, a journalist with NBC News in New York, and Sanjay Bhatt, an enterprise reporter for The Seattle Times.