Month: March 2010

Baghdad, March 27: Former prime minister Ayad Allawi’s Iraqiya list won the most seats in Iraq’s March 7 parliamentary election, the Independent High Electoral Commission said Friday.

Allawi won 91 seats in the 325-seat parliament, only two seats ahead of the State of Law coalition, led by his rival current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The Iraqi National alliance came third with 68 seats.

Shortly after the results were announced, al-Maliki described the elections as “transparent”. Yet, he said he will not accept the results.

Mogadishu, March 27: The EU anti-pirate force has said that six suspected Somali pirates have been released after they were captured allegedly trying to flee an unsuccessful hijacking.

The BBC has reported that Cmdr. John Harbour said the Pakistani master of the Almezaan refused to testify against the prisoners. Armed security guards on the Almezaan drove off the pirates Tuesday, killing one of them.

Beijing, March 27: Officials have informed that the drought in South China has become so severe that wells have dried up, leaving 18 million people without drinking water.

In one village, Xiazha in Guangxi province, records show the three wells have been reliable since at least the early 16th century. Now, all are dry.

Paris, March 27: The French National Agency on AIDS Research (ANRS) has expressed concern over lack of funding for new projects regarding prevention of the dreaded disease in the country.

Director of ANRS, Jean-Francois Delfraissy, told BEM-TV that the budget of the institution has not changed in the last five years, Prensa Latina reported.

Moscow, March 27: Russia is ready to import poultry from India if the US does not resume its supplies, Russian Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik has said.

India, a major poultry producer, has already expressed its readiness to supply its products to Russia, as well as Turkey and Thailand, Skrynnik said.

“At the moment, actually this week, we found out that we have excessive stocks of poultry products on our farms, so we stopped discussions by now. But, theoretically, if we need poultry, we can buy it from India,” she said after a meeting with her Indian counterpart Sharad Pawar.

Cairo, March 27: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will return to Egypt on Saturday following gallbladder surgery in Germany this month, a government minister told late on Friday.

Mubarak is to arrive on Saturday afternoon to the resort town of Sharm El Sheikh, Information Minister Anas el-Feki said in a text message exchange. The president’s return comes three weeks after doctors in Germany removed his gallbladder.

Washington, March 27: The US and Russia have finalised the most comprehensive nuclear arms reduction treaty in nearly two decades, US President Barack Obama announced Friday.

Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed on the final details of what has been dubbed the ‘New START treaty’ in a telephone call Friday and will meet in Prague April 8 to sign the deal.

United Nations, March 27: The new agreement between Russia and the US to reduce their arsenals is an “important milestone” in global efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said.

Negotiations between the two nuclear powers on a successor agreement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), wrapped up Friday and both the parties agreed to sign the deal in April.

The existing START treaty is to expire in December. The new pact will require both sides to cut their deployed nuclear warheads, missiles and launchers.

Santiago, March 27: A magnitude-6.2 earthquake hit northern Chile’s Atacama region, but no casualties or damage was reported.

The temblor struck at 11:52 A.M. (2022 IST) Friday and its epicentre was near Copiapo, a town 804 km north of Santiago, the US Geological Service said.

Seismologists at the University of Chile measured the earthquake at magnitude-5.9 on Richter scale.

It was the second powerful quake which struck northern Chile this month after the magnitude-6.3 temblor of March 4.

Dhaka, March 27: Bangladesh’s envoy to India Tariq A. Karim said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s January visit to India would bolster the partnership between the two countries and chart a new success story in South Asia’s politics.

Karim described Hasina’s four- day visit ( January 10 to 13) to India as the most fruitful since 1974.