Month: December 2009

Washington, Dec 31: Eight Americans were killed Wednesday in an attack in a military base in eastern Afghanistan, the US State Department said.

Spokesman did not provide details in the brief statement released by the department.

Citing a US military official and an official at the embassy in Kabul, reported the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest.

A US military spokesman at Central Command in Tampa, Florida, confirmed there was an explosion at Forward Operating Base Chapman. None of those killed were military personnel, the spokesman said.

Amsterdam, Dec 31: The Netherlands and Nigeria said on Wednesday they would use full-body scanners at airports after a failed Christmas Day attack on a U.S.-bound plane by a 23-year-old Nigerian suspect who passed through both countries.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport will begin using the scanners — which “see” through clothing — within three weeks to check people travelling to the United States, after consultations with U.S. authorities, the Dutch interior minister said.

Nigeria will equip its international airports with the scanners in the New Year, an aviation official said.

San diego, December 31: Authorities say hospitals were briefly evacuated in the Mexican border city of Mexicali after a magnitude-5.8 earthquake. There are no reports of injuries or major property damage.

Rene Rosado, the city’s director of civil defense, says the mayor closed all city government offices after the quake struck Wednesday morning. Five hospitals were briefly emptied, 90,000 customers lost electricity for 14 minutes, and cell phone service failed for 20 minutes.

Washington, December 30: The Obama administration is likely to intensify pressure on Yemen’s president to focus his security forces against al Qaeda militants.

The likely move follows claims that the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing originated there, according to US officials.

The US is also discussing increasing its counter terrorism support to Yemen from $70 million this year to as much as $190 million in 2010, according to a senior military official.

London, December 30: A Smart phone found near the body of British skier Myles Robinson is being checked for clues to his death.

Friends discovered Robinson, 23, on Monday, after his family organised a private search party.

He had plunged into an icy ravine from a cliff side path in the Switzerland ski resort of Wengen.

His BlackBerry was retrieved hours later on the “incredibly hazardous” track.

Police are now attempting to power up the device to see what calls, texts and emails Robinson made or took before the tragedy.

New York, December 30: It will no longer be a dog’s life for the horses in New York’s Central Park.

New rules proposed today by the city’s Health Department would guarantee the hard-working buggy-pullers five weeks of vacation a year, no work after 3am and nostrils that no longer have to endure second hand smoke.

In what amounts to the city’s first outdoor-smoking ban, the carriage drivers and their passengers would no longer be allowed to light up under regulations that could take effect as early as March.

New York, December 30: New York authorities will pay $1.25m to a man who spent 14 years behind bars before being cleared in the notorious murder of a bouncer at the city’s former Palladium nightclub.

A Manhattan federal judge signed off on the deal with David Lemus yesterday, after he filed a $50m suit against police and prosecutors who locked him up for the 1990 shooting.

Washington, December 30: Teen sailor Jessica Watson says the Southern Ocean has provided the toughest challenge yet on her bid to sail solo around the world.

The 16-year-old from Queensland is ahead of schedule and approaching the halfway mark in her 23,000 nautical mile voyage.

Jessica is now approaching the most southerly point of South America, Cape Horn.

She said in a statement that she battled wind gusts of up to 44 knots and over five metre swells during a storm on the Southern Ocean.

England, December 30: A Mother who was critically injured during a violent argument at a house in southern England yesterday has died in hospital.

Her four-year-old daughter was shot dead.

The girl’s 56-year-old father was also found dead inside the property in Church Hill, Aldershot.

It is understood the man shot the pair before turning the gun on himself.

—Agencies

Florida, December 30: A Girl, 11, and her 15-year old boyfriend have been charged with attempted murder after setting her mother’s bedroom ablaze in the middle of the night.

The pair poured gasoline in the woman’s bedroom while she slept and then ignited it, fleeing in the victim’s sedan, according to the Clearwater Police Department in Florida.

Luckily, a smoke alarm went off and she was able to get out but not before suffering serious burns and smoke inhalation, the police said.

Her injuries were described as serious but not life threatening.

Washington, December 30: US intelligence has concluded that the document published recently by the Times of London, which purportedly describes an Iranian plan to do experiments on what the newspaper described as a “neutron initiator” for an atomic weapon, is a fabrication, according to a former Central Intelligence Agency official.

Washington, December 30: The United States and Yemen are reviewing targets in Yemen for a potential reprisal strike after the failed attack on a US jet that Al-Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for, CNN reported Wednesday.

CNN television cited two senior US officials who “stressed the effort is aimed at being ready with options for the White House if President (Barack) Obama orders a retaliatory strike. The effort is to see whether targets can be specifically linked to the airliner incident and its planning.”

Cairo, December 30: One hundred international activists left Cairo on Wednesday for the Gaza Strip, after Egypt denied passage to another 1,200 who planned to march in solidarity with the Israeli-besieged enclave’s Palestinians.

“Two buses with 100 delegates on board left this morning for Gaza,” said Ann Wright, one of the organisers of the Gaza Freedom March.

Egyptian authorities had banned the activists who have come to Cairo from 42 countries to take part in the march from entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing, the only entry that bypasses Israel.