Ankara, December 31: Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday the military was facing “unnecessary and unjust” criticism, comments that appeared aimed at easing tensions with the armed forces over suspected anti-government conspiracies.
Reforms have eroded the military’s power in recent years as Ankara seeks European Union membership and relations between the secularist armed forces and the Islamist-rooted government have been prickly.
Gaza, December 31: Hamas does not agree to Israel’s latest terms for a prisoner swap and has asked a German mediator to continue to pursue a deal, a Hamas official said on Wednesday after leaders of the group ended talks in Damascus.
“The consultations will continue and the negotiations will continue. We cannot say that the deal has reached a dead end. And we cannot say that (the talks were) concluded by a deal,” Ayman Taha told Reuters in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Washington, December 31: Most Americans believe the situation for the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will get worse or stay the same in 2010, a recent poll indicates.
According to the survey conducted by the Associated Press-GFK released on Wednesday, almost 70 percent of the American people are not optimistic about the two wars.
The poll also indicates that nearly three quarters of the people think 2009 was a bad year for the country, which was rocked by the recession.
Tehran, December 31: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for establishing a “strong front” to foil plots hatched by the enemies of Islam.
“Many Muslim countries are in such a condition today that makes it necessary to form a strong and united front against the enemies,” Ahmadinejad said, in a meeting with visiting Somali Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Jama in Tehran on Wednesday.
“The enemies are trying to prevent unity among Muslim nations to achieve their evil goals,” Fars news agency quoted the Iranian president as saying.
Tehran, December 31: Iran’s envoy to Germany says German businessmen believe that Chancellor Angela Merkel is moving against the country’s national interests.
“German businessmen have said in their meetings that the Merkel administration’s polices toward Iran are against Germany’s national interests,” IRNA quoted Ambassador Ali-Reza Sheikh-Attar as saying on Wednesday.
“During our meetings with the German businessmen they have called for change in Berlin’s approach to Tehran,” Sheikh-Attar added.
Washington, December 31: Most of the eight Americans killed in a suicide attack against a US military base in east Afghanistan probably worked for the CIA, a report says.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Forward Operating Base Chapman that was hit by a suicide attack on Wednesday, was used by US spies.
It added US sources confirmed that all the dead and injured were probably CIA employees or contractors.
Earlier, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said eight US civilians and four Afghan soldiers were killed in the attack.
Baghdad, December 31: The only known survivor from five British nationals taken hostage in war-battered Iraq has been released alive from captivity.
The 39-year-old computer programmer, Peter Moore, was released to Iraqi officials on Wednesday morning and then transferred to the British embassy in Baghdad. A young man, Qais al-Ghazali, held by the US military, was being handed over for release to the Iraqi government in exchange, officials said.
Cairo, December 31: A UN human rights expert has deplored the construction of a wall along Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip, terming it as a sign of complicity between Washington and Cairo.
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk denounced the construction of the steel wall which “is designed to interfere with the tunnels that have been bringing some food and material relief to the Gaza population.”
Tehran, December 31: Informed sources have denied earlier reports that Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi have fled Tehran amid security concerns.
“Reports about the riot leaders’ escape from Tehran are denied,” Fars news agency reported late on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, IRNA reported that “two of those who played a major role in igniting tension in Iran following the (June presidential) vote fled from Tehran to northern Iran because they were scared of angry people who had called for their punishment,” in an indirect reference to Karroubi and Mousavi.
Tehran, December 31: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that attempts by the US and certain European countries to destabilize Iran are a repetition of their past mistakes.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting, President Ahmadinejad warned the leaders of Western countries against making efforts to destabilize Iran as the Iranian nation would not be affected by such conspiracies.
President Ahmadinejad advised US President Barack Obama and certain other Western leaders to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors.
Washington, Dec 31: Seeing into the remotest reaches of space, way beyond the capacity of the most powerful existing (Hubble) telescope, may now be possible with MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument detectors) cameras.
‘The MIRI is one of four science instruments aboard the James Webb telescope that is designed to record images and spectra at the longest wavelengths that the Webb can observe,’ said Matt Greenhouse, NASA project scientist.
New Delhi, December 31: The law ministry is contemplating asking the National Commission for Women to move the Supreme Court seeking its intervention for stiffer punishment for a former Haryana top cop who has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for molesting a teenaged girl.
Washington, Dec 31: Researchers have come up with an improved alternative therapy for hypertension, using an enzyme called ACE2.
Existing therapies like ACE inhibitors block the formation of angiotensin II, a protein that causes blood vessels to constrict and drives blood pressure up, says Daniel Batlle, professor of medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine (FSM) and nephrologist.
But the approach with ACE2 is novel because it focuses on breaking down angiotensin II already in the system. ‘This therapeutic approach can also be superior to existing therapies,’ said Batlle.
Srinagar, Dec 31: Four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed when unidentified militants struck near Sopore town in north Kashmir on Wednesday. One CRPF jawan was injured.
Reports reaching here said that the militants targeted a patrol party of the CRPF which was keeping a vigil in an orchard near Janwara village on the Sopore-Bandipore road.
“They were taken off guard by the militants who opened indiscriminate firing on them,” Additional Superintendent of Police (Sopore) Abdul Waheed Shah told.
Mumbai, Dec 31: The Indian rupee on Thursday gained 7 paise against the US currency in early trade on hopes of fresh capital inflows into stock markets in line with firming trends on other Asian markets.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit appreciated by 7 paise to 46.67 a dollar. The rupee had ended 8 paise lower at 46.74 in last trading.
London, Dec 31: Popstar Mariah Carey had sacrificed glamour to play a dowdy social worker in ‘Precious’ and the effort is paying rich dividends as she picked up her first acting award and may be in line for more.
The 40-year-old enjoyed a glamorous night in Capri at the town’s annual Hollywood International Film Festival where she was honoured with the prize for Supporting Actress of the Year, reported.
The ‘Hero’ hitmaker played social worker Mrs. Weiss in the Lee Daniels film where she stars opposite Mo’Nique and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe.
Aligarh, Dec 31: Riaz Ahmad, a teacher at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has been conferred the Scientist of the Year Award-2009 by the National Environment Science Academy in New Delhi, an AMU spokesperson said Wednesday.
‘The award carried a gold medal and a plaque as a token of appreciation for the contributions of Riaz Ahmad in the area of biochemical and molecular genetics,’ AMU’s assistant public relations officer Zeeshan Ahmad told reporters in Aligarh.
Srinagar, Dec 31: A Jammu-Kashmir police officer was arrested on Wednesday night for molesting and assaulting a woman doctor in Budgam district while she was on duty.
“We have arrested sub-inspector Ghulam Mustafa even before any formal complaint was lodged by any individual,” Inspector General of Police Farooq Ahmed told.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Budgam, Aftab Ahmed Kakroo said Mustafa is posted in 10th battalion of Indian Reserve Police (IRP).
New Delhi, Dec 31: Former Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari, who had to resign after his alleged involvement in a sex scandal, has said that he will remain active in politics and will seek legal recourse against the TV channel which had shown the video clip defaming him. “Vicharon ki rajniti mein thaa aur rahungaa,” said Tiwari, when contacted on the phone in Dehradun on Wednesday.
Banglore, Dec 31: Students of the Indian Institute of Management–Bangalore had a treat in store for them on Tuesday. After watching a special screening of the box office stunner “Three Idiots”, cast and crew of the movie, including actors Amir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi, turned up at the institute to thank the staff and students for their support during the shooting of the film.
The film was shot on IIM-B’s sprawling campus in 2008 and early 2009; the cast and crew stayed on campus for nearly a month. The movie has been running to full house since its release on Friday.
Kollam, December 31: Twenty people were injured, three of them seriously, when a gas tanker collided with a car and caught fire at Puthantheruvu near here early on Thursday.
Authorities have evacuated people in the vicinity fearing an explosion in the fully loaded gas tanker.
Most of the injured were either policemen or the local people helping with the efforts to douse the fire, which continues to rage, officials said.
The injured also included four persons travelling in the car.
–PTI
Mumbai, Dec 31: She is smart, glamorous and one of the most sought after actresses in Bollywood, but Priyanka Chopra says it was difficult for her to portray a simple, beautiful girl in forthcoming film ‘Pyaar Impossible’ and still try to hold the interest of audiences.
Jamshedpur, Dec 31: A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour today in Bagbera area on the outskirts of the steel city after he had a quarrel with the minor”s father, the police said. The accused, Bitu Kumar forcibly took the girl in an isolated place in Gandhinagar and raped her, the sources said.
Local residents caught Kumar and beat him up before handing him over to the police. The 35-year-old accused was familiar with the victim”s family and was living in the neighbourhood, sources said.
The girl was sent to M G M hospital for medical check-up, sources added.
Kolkata, Dec 31: Passengers of New Delhi-Puri Purushottam Express had a narrow escape as suspected Maoists damaged railway tracks at two different places in West Bengal�s West Midnapore district Wednesday, throwing train services haywire.
Suspected Maoist ultras cut the connectors between two tracks and tried to bend the line between Jhargram and Khatkula stations, a short while before the New Delhi-Puri Purushottam Express was to cross the affected 400 metre stretch.
Baghdad, Dec 31: At least 37 people were killed and 80 injured in three devastating bombings across Iraq Wednesday, police said.
The deadliest attack struck the offices of the governor of al-Anbar province in the overwhelmingly Sunni city of Ramadi.
Qassim Mohammed al-Fahadawi, the governor of the province, and Abbas al-Dulaimi, the deputy director of the Ramadi police, were among those injured when a man detonated explosives packed into his car outside the governor’s office, police told.