Month: November 2009

Washington, November 06: A top US Army official confirmed Friday that the suspect in the killing of at least 13 people at a Texas army base likely shouted “Allah-u-Akbar” (God is great) before opening fire.

Army Lieutenant General Robert Cone, commander of the Fort Hood, Texas, base where the shootings took place Thursday, made the comment in answer to a question from NBC news.

Cone said “there are first hand accounts” to the effect that the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, had yelled the Muslim religious chant.

Hanoi, November 06: The toll from Tropical Storm Mirinae in central Vietnam has risen to 109, the country’s Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control reported Friday.

The authority said 16 people remained missing, and local media were reporting death figures as high as 119.

Flood waters were beginning to recede across much of Phu Yen and Binh Dinh provinces, but remained as high as one metre in some towns.

Washington, November 06:Three-year-old children who are exposed to more TV appear to be at an increased risk for exhibiting aggressive behaviour, according to new research.

“Early childhood aggression can be problematic for parents, teachers and childhood peers and sometimes is predictive of more serious behaviour problems to come, such as juvenile delinquency, adulthood violence and criminal behaviour,” says a new study.

Beijing, November 06: At least 19 people were killed when a truck ran into a crowd in northern China’s Hebei province, police said Friday.

The accident happened at around 8.30 p.m. Thursday in Zhaozhuangzi village when the truck hit another vehicle and then went into the crowd, Xinhua reported.

As many as 32 people were hospitalised.

The driver and the owner of the truck were arrested.

–Agencies

Washington, November 06: From their very first days, newborns’ cries already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, reveals a new study.

The findings suggest that infants begin picking up elements of what will be their first language in the womb, and certainly long before their first babble or coo.

Paris, November 06: Police in the French city of Lyon were searching Friday for the driver of an armoured van who apparently made off with 11 million euros ($16.4 million) belonging to the Bank of France, French media reported.

The 39-year-old driver apparently simply drove off Thursday while the van’s two other guards left him alone when they stopped at a branch office of the security company they worked for.

The van, stripped of the 38 bags of bills it was carrying, was found several hours later in a Lyon suburb.

Melbourne, November 06: Indians were among the over 2,000 foreign students who were left in the lurch – some with barely two weeks to go before they get their degrees – following the overnight collapse of four private colleges in the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne.

Teachers at the colleges run by the Meridian Group were told they were out of jobs Thursday night, but no one told the students who arrived at campuses Friday morning to find the doors closed, ABC Online reported.

Seoul, November 06: South Korea’s parliament on Friday ratified a comprehensive economic partnership deal with India, paving the way for closer trade ties.

Seoul’s ratification opens the way for eliminating or lowering import duties on goods and services.

The pact could almost double trade volume between the India and South Korea, Asia’s third- and fourth-largest economies, reports said.

Bilateral trade is estimated around $15.6 billion anually.