Month: October 2009

Kuala Lampur, October 01: The wife of slain Islamist militant leader Noordin Mohammed Top has left for Indonesia to claim the body of her husband for burial in Malaysia on Friday, a family representative said.

“Noordin’s wife, Rahmah Rusdi and his brother Yahya Mohammed Top left at 9.10 am (0110 GMT) Thursday morning for Jakarta to collect his body,” Badarudin Ismail told AFP Thursday.

“She will be meeting with Malaysian diplomats there and will be taken to the police morgue for the final paperwork,” he added.

Washington, October 01: Describing India and Pakistan as two very important countries, the United States says it is encouraging Islamabad to fully investigate and bring those responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

“Well, we certainly have encouraged and continue to encourage Pakistan to fully investigate the Mumbai attacks, and even more importantly, bring those responsible before their judicial system,” a State Department spokesman told reporters Wednesday.

Beijing, October 01: China celebrated its rise to a world power over 60 years of Communist rule Thursday, staging its biggest-ever parade of military hardware with over 100,000 marching masses in a display that stirred patriotism — and some unease.

Police blocked off a wide area around central Beijing’s Tiananmen Square for the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic. People were told to stay away and watch the events on television, though that did not dampen a festive air as residents gathered in homes and alleys.

Manila, October 01: A new typhoon gathered strength Thursday off the Philippines while nearly 700,000 people still sought help in badly stretched relief centers from massive flooding caused by Ketsana, one of the region’s most destructive storms in years.

Ketsana prompted the worst flooding in the northern Philippines in 40 years when it struck Saturday, and then continued its deadly path across Southeast Asia, blowing down wooden villages in Cambodia and crushing Vietnamese houses under mudslides on Tuesday.

The death toll climbed Thursday to 362, and was still rising.

Dhaka, October 01: A Bangladeshi farmer who killed more than 83,000 rats and launched a nationwide campaign to kill millions more has been awarded a prize by the government for his efforts in protecting crops and reducing the need for food imports.

Mokhairul Islam, 40, won a television for killing 83,450 rats over nine months in Gazipur, near the capital, Dhaka. He collected their tails for proof.

London, October 01: A 10-year-old girl’s attempt to “sell” her grandmother was thwarted by regulations on human trafficking.

Zoe Pemberton advertised her grandmother Marion Goodall, 61, of Clacton, Essex, on internet auction site eBay.

The youngster described Mrs Goodall as “annoying” but “cuddly” in her joke listing.

But eBay bosses removed the advertisement because the site does not allow humans to be bought and sold.

“Obviously we have rules about the selling of people,” said an eBay spokeswoman.

London, October 01: Britain’s finance minister Thursday urged the European Union to clamp down on bankers’ bonuses, after five of the country’s biggest banks signed up to new rules on payments.

Alistair Darling said tough rules must be implemented “without delay,” as European finance ministers prepared to gather in Sweden for talks on regulation in the wake of the financial crisis.

Sydney, October 01: Two massive seismic jolts – similarly deadly, but as yet unrelated – brought chaos and destruction to a vast swath of the Pacific Rim yesterday, killing several hundred people and leaving thousands more feared trapped under piles of rubble on a day when nature showed her deadly hand.

Washington, October 01: A White House-backed overhaul of the nation’s health care system weathered repeated challenges from Republican critics over taxes, abortion and more on Wednesday, and the bill’s architect claimed enough votes to push it through the Senate Finance Committee as early as week’s end.

“We’re coming to closure,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the committee chairman, as President Barack Obama lobbied at least one wavering Democrat by phone to swing behind the measure.

New York, October 01: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday terminated the appointment of a UN deputy representative in Afghanistan, who apparently left his job in disagreement with his superior.

Ban said he decided to recall Peter Galbraith, a US diplomat, and ended his posting as deputy to the UN chief of mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide. News reports said Galbraith had disagreed with Eide over the recent elections in Afghanistan.

Indiana, October 01: A small plane crashed in Indiana on Wednesday after its pilot failed to respond to radio calls, officials told .

The plane went down in a farm field near the city of Muncie, according to a spokeswoman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The condition of the pilot was not immediately clear.