Month: November 2009

Afghanistan: Time to leave

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Kabul, November 08: Britain should start withdrawing, not reinforcing, its troops in Afghanistan.

Sending extra troops is unnecessary and will prove counter-effective. The additional number of British troops is small, but the US is poised to send tens of thousands more soldiers to the country. The nature of the conflict is changing.

What should be a war in which the Afghan government fights the Taliban has become one which is being fought primarily by the American and British armies. To more and more Afghans, this looks like imperial occupation.

Brown makes Tobin tax proposal at G20 meeting

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London, November 08: The US and Britain are at odds over a proposal that would impose a new tax on financial transactions to support future bank rescues.

On Saturday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, hosting a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers in St. Andrews, Scotland, said a system of taxing banks, such as the Tobin tax, should be considered as a way to take the burden off taxpayers during periods of financial crisis, The New York Times reported.

‘West fears Iran’s energy independence’

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Tehran, November 08: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Western powers are concerned about Tehran’s steady progress in becoming energy independent rather than its alleged potential to build a nuclear bomb.

“The [Western] powers are in fact afraid of Iran’s many accomplishments in nuclear technology, rather than its capability to produce a nuclear bomb,” Ahmadinejad said in an interview with Turkey’s TRT TV channel.

Speaking ahead of a high-level visit to Turkey, the Iranian president said the nuclear issue has been “over-politicized” in recent years.

Formula in offing to resolve crisis in Karnataka BJP

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New Delhi, November 08: The festering crisis in ruling BJP in Karnataka remained unresolved today and the party central leadership was working overtime to thrash out a formula that will include changes in the cabinet but rebellious Reddy brothers continued to be unrelenting. Under the formula being worked out during confabulations among BJP leaders late tonight, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa would not be changed and none other than Assembly Speaker Jagdish Shettar, the rallying point of rebels demanding the ouster of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, would be inducted in the cabinet.

Two women in new Maharashtra government

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Mumbai, November 08: Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Fauzia Khan, a Muslim, and Congress party’s Varsha Gaekwad, a Dalit, have found place in the new Maharashtra council of ministers sworn in Saturday.

Both Fauzia, a Member of Legislative Council (the upper house) from Parbhani, and Gaekwad have been inducted as ministers of state.

The convent-educated Fauzia is considered close to NCP chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

Fauzia, in her mid-40s, heads the Federation of All Maharashtra Minority Education Organisation and runs several educational institutions in Parabhani.

UN accused of meddling in Afghanistan

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Kabul, November 08: Kabul has accused the top United Nations official in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, of intervening in President Hamid Karzai’s efforts to form a new cabinet.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that Eide had “exceeded his authority.”

On Thursday, Eide said the Afghan government risked losing international support if it continued to allow “warlords and powerbrokers” to “play their own games.”

At least 6 dead in latest clashes in Mogadishu

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Mogadishu, November 08: Heavy fighting between Somali government forces and Al Shabaab militants have left at least six people dead and another 12 injured in Mogadishu.

The clashes broke out late on Saturday in the districts of Bondhere and Abdiaziz, with the two sides exchanging heavy mortar fire.

Eyewitnesses told a Press TV correspondent that heavily armed militants had carried out attacks on government bases in the districts.

The wounded civilians were admitted to various hospitals in Mogadishu.

Blast in northwest Pakistan, several casualties

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Islamabad, November 08: A blast ripped through a busy market on the outskirts of Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar on Sunday, causing several casualties, police said.

“We don’t know the nature of the blast but there are many casualties. There may be a few deaths,” said Shah Sawar Khan, a police official in Matni area where the blast took place.

Islamist militants have unleashed a campaign of bomb and suicide attacks in Pakistan in recent weeks in retaliation for a major offensive launched by security forces in their main bastion, South Waziristan, on the Afghan border.

Congolese army attacked Hutu civilians: report

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Hutu, November 08: Doctors without Borders (MSF) says thousands of Hutu civilians were targeted by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s army when they visited sites set up to combat a measles epidemic.

On Friday, Doctors without Borders denounced the attacks in the eastern province of North Kivu as “an abuse of humanitarian action.”

“MSF denounces this clearly unacceptable abuse of humanitarian aid for military purposes,” a statement by the medical group read.

China’s Wen seeks to boost blossoming Africa ties

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Beijing, November 08: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets African leaders on Sunday, aiming to boost a relationship which politically goes back decades and is now economically booming — to the discomfort of some in the West.

All eyes will be on new offers of aid to Africa at the meeting in Egypt, after President Hu Jintao promised $5 billion in loans and credit at the last summit in Beijing in 2006.

Plant-based foods can fight asthma, diabetes

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London, November 08: Consuming fiber-rich foods as well as probiotic and prebiotics supplements can boost intestinal bacteria and immunity, keeping asthma and diabetes at bay.

Previous studies had reported that intestinal bacteria play a critical role in boosting immunity, since the very first days of life.

According to a study published in Nature, diets can have profound effects on immune responses or inflammatory diseases.

Storm Ida revives, churns towards Gulf of Mexico

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Mexico, November 08: Tropical Storm Ida regained strength off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Saturday and spun north toward the Gulf of Mexico, where it could again become a hurricane.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Ida, which had weakened to a depression on Thursday, now carried maximum sustained winds of nearly 70 mph (110 kph) and was located about 180 miles (290 km) southeast of the Caribbean island of Cozumel, Mexico.

Bodies of Iranian ship’s missing passengers recovered

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Tehran, November 08: Iranian authorities have recovered the bodies of two persons missing from a cruise ship, which sank earlier off the port city of Genaveh in the southern Bushehr Province.

The director of the Red Crescent Society in Genaveh, Mahmoud Safaie, said search teams had spotted the two bodies from above and ships were dispatched to recover them.

The bodies were found about 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the site where the cruise ship sank due to a series of punctures in her hull caused by rough seas.

Police: 1 killed, 2 injured in shooting near Vail

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Colo, November 08: Gunfire at a bar near the Colorado ski resort town of Vail killed one and injured two Saturday night, and a man was quickly arrested in connection with the shooting, police said.

A man who was being escorted out of Sandbar Sports Grill Bar pulled out a gun and shot someone in the arm, bar patron Nancy Lewis said.

Other witnesses told the Vail Daily newspaper that the man fired several shots, then re-entered the bar and fired several more shots. Police received an emergency call at around 7:30 p.m.

Dieting on processed food ups risk of depression

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London, November 08: While eating a diet high in processed foods increases the risk of depression, following a diet rich in fruit and fish can keep the condition at bay.

Previous studies had found that adopting a Mediterranean diet helps lower the risk of developing depression. In today’s world, however, individuals consume less nutritious and fresh products than saturated fats and sugars.

Afghans killed during search for missing U.S. troops

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Kabul, November 08: NATO forces mistakenly killed seven Afghan soldiers and police in an air strike during a battle while searching for two missing American soldiers in Afghanistan, the Afghan Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

The NATO-led force confirmed the deaths and said it was investigating whether its air strikes were responsible. It said an eighth Afghan, a civilian working with the military, was also killed, and 18 Afghans and five American soldiers were wounded.

The battle took place on Friday during a manhunt for the two soldiers who went missing on Wednesday.

Babies cry in their mother tongues

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Hamburg, November 08: The differences in infantile crying melodies correspond with their mother tongue, indicating that babies are influenced by the sound of the first language to penetrate the womb.

It had long been believed that the fetus can memorize sounds from the outside world, both music and human voices, in the last three months of pregnancy.

According to a study published in Current Biology, human neonates are capable of producing different crying melodies, all of which correspond with the language they have heard during their fetal life.

Al Qaeda videos recovered from LeT operative’s house in US

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Washington, November 08: A Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) plot to launch new terror attacks in India with the help of two Pakistan-born Chicago men has taken a new turn with FBI agents recovering two inflammatory Al Qaeda videos from the house of one of them.

The videos recovered from the house of Pakistan-born Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was arrested last month along with the other accused David Coleman Headley, a Pakistan-born American national, contain speeches by Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders.

Himachal police officer found shot dead

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Shimla, November 08: A senior police officer was found shot dead early Sunday at his residence here. Police suspect it to be a case of suicide.

Inspector General of Police (Railway and Traffic) Jagjit Kumar, 57, was found lying in a pool of blood at his house, Shimla Superintendent of Police R.M. Sharma told IANS.

‘It seems to be a case of suicide. His service revolver was found lying next to his body. Preliminary investigations indicate that the death took place between 1 a.m. and 1.30 a.m. His family came to know about the incident around 3 a.m.,’ he said.

Dalai Lama arrives in Tawang, thousands welcome spiritual leader

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Tawang, November 08: Thousands of locals in traditional costumes and monks attired in their maroon robes lined up streets early Sunday to greet the Dalai Lama as he arrived here on a weeklong visit to India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Dalai Lama landed in Assam’s main city of Guwahati from New Delhi at 7.45 a.m.

‘The Dalai Lama is very happy and is excited to be in Arunachal Pradesh,’ T.G. Rinpoche, a senior Buddhist spiritual leader and former Arunachal Pradesh minister told IANS by telephone from Guwahati after receiving the Dalai Lama at the airport.

G-20 finance officials: Too early to end stimulus

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Scotland, November 08: Finance officials from rich and developing countries have pledged to maintain emergency support for their economies until recovery is assured, but failed to reach a clear agreement to bear the cost of fighting climate change.

There was also a mixed reaction among the Group of 20 leading rich and emerging nations Saturday to a British-led push to consider a fund for bank bailouts, possibly financed by a tax on financial transactions, to ensure that taxpayers don’t bear the brunt of any future rescues.

Leader reinstates IRIB chief for another 5 years

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Tehran, November 08: The Leader of the Islamic Revolution has reinstated Seyyed Ezzatollah Zarghami as head of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Broadcaster (IRIB).

In a statement issued on Saturday, Zarghami was reinstated by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei for another five-year term as the head of the IRIB.

The Leader advised the IRIB chief to constantly take into consideration the deficiencies of the organization under his supervision.

Japan says no base deal during Obama visit

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Tokyo, November 08: Japan’s foreign minister said Sunday that no deal on relocating U.S. troops on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa can be expected during President Barack Obama’s visit this week, saying the issue needs more time to resolve.

Obama is scheduled to arrive Friday, and a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is on the agenda. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Sunday on TV Asahi that “an agreement between the heads of state holds heavy meaning,” but cannot be expected to be finalized during Obama’s visit.

PM condoles Gopi Arora’s death

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New Delhi, November 07: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday condoled the death of former civil servant Gopi Arora, a close aide of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Arora, who died Thursday, was from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and wielded enormous influence in the 1980s. He was finance secretary in 1989-90, serving the Indian government for over 35 years.

Moderate intensity quake at Xizang

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New Delhi, November 08: A moderate intensity earthquake measuring 5.6 on Richter scale was felt at Xizang tonight.

The quake was epicentred at 29.5 degrees North latitude and 86.2 degrees East longitude and occurred at 0139 hrs, the India Meteorological Department said.

There was no report of any loss of life or damage to property.

—Agencies