Month: April 2010

Paris, April 06: President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered a campaign of terror to punish those responsible for rumours which circulated last month on supposed tit-for-tat, extra-marital affairs by the French first couple.

Although the rumours have been discredited – and formally denied – the Elysée Palace is not prepared to let the matter rest. Two journalists working for the internet edition of the Journal du Dimanche – which repeated the rumours in a website blog – have already been fired, apparently under pressure from the Elysée.

Dalian, April 06: China has told Japan that it plans to execute a Japanese man convicted of drug smuggling on Tuesday, sources said on Monday.

It was earlier believed that China would execute Mitsunobu Akano, 65, who was convicted of attempting to smuggle 2.5 kilograms of stimulant drugs from China to Japan in 2006, on Monday.

His death sentence was finalised in April 2009. Earlier today, Akano’s family members apparently met him at a detention facility in the northeastern city of Dalian. A Japanese diplomatic vehicle believed to be carrying them was seen leaving the facility.

Washington, April 06: Ahead of the next week’s Nuclear Security Summit to be attended by leaders from more than 40 countries including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the US on Monday said it would release its nuclear strategy on Tuesday.

The Nuclear Strategy Report is expected to stress non-nuclear deterrent capabilities, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Gibbs said that it would build the momentum for the Nuclear Security Summit that has been convened by President Barack Obama in Washington on April 12 and 13.

–PTI

Washington, April 06: The Obama administration is adopting a new policy limiting the circumstances under which the U.S. would use nuclear weapons, keeping with the President’s pledge to give the nuclear arsenal a less prominent role in U.S. defence strategy.

In line with an in-depth review of U.S. nuclear weapons policy, the administration also hopes to persuade Russia to agree to open talks on mutual cuts in nuclear arsenals that go beyond a new arms treaty to be signed this week, U.S. officials said.

New York, April 06: Four people were shot and dozens were arrested Monday in a mile-long stretch of Manhattan near Times Square in mayhem following the city’s annual auto show, police said.

A group of teenagers and young adults ran amok, squaring off against one another and harassing pedestrians along a one-mile stretch of midtown near the Jacob A. Javits Center, where the New York International Auto Show is held, police said.

Chief NYPD spokesman Paul J. Browne said additional officers were on patrol because similar problems have happened during past auto shows.

Caracas, April 06: Russia may sell $5bn worth of weapons to Venezuela, prime minister Vladimir Putin announced after a visit to the South American country.

Mr Putin met Venezuela president Hugo Chavez – a leading critic of the United States – over the weekend to discuss oil, defence and nuclear co-operation.

Mr Chavez has said he needs to develop his military might to counter US forces in neighbouring Colombia, Washington’s closest ally in the region.

Washington, April 06: Outraged by the attack on the American Consulate in Peshawar by the Taliban, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today said “an attack on the diplomatic mission strike at the heart of international cooperation and is unacceptable in any country at any time.”

“The assault this morning is part of a wave of violence perpetrated by brutal extremists who seek to undermine Pakistan’s democracy and sow fear and discord,” Clinton said in a statement.

Washington, April 06: Amid a series of anti-US rhetorics coming from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the White House on Monday showed signs of “frustration” with regard to this war-torn country where its forces have been engaged in war against terrorism for the past eight years.

“On behalf of the American people, we’re frustrated,” the White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, told reporters when asked if the Obama administration is concerned about the recent anti-US remarks of the Afghan President.

Kathmandu, April 06: One of the world’s top mountaineers left Kathmandu Tuesday on an expedition to Mount Everest, where he will scatter the ashes of Edmund Hillary, the first man to stand on the summit.

Apa Sherpa, who has scaled Everest a record 19 times, said he wanted to honour Hillary’s contribution to the Sherpa communities that inhabit Nepal’s eastern Himalayas, where the world’s highest mountain is located.

He plans to hold a small Buddhist ceremony at the top of Everest, which the Sherpa people regard as sacred, to pray for the celebrated New Zealand mountaineer.

Montcoal, April 06: Rescuers converged late Monday on a remote coal mine where seven workers were killed and 19 missing deep underground after an explosion rocked the operation that has a history of violations for not properly ventilating highly combustible methane gas, safety officials said.