Month: May 2010

Washington, May 06: U.S. President Barack Obama sounded out senior Senate Republicans on Wednesday about Supreme Court justice candidates and was warned he could expect a tough confirmation fight if he chooses an overt liberal.

With administration officials saying Obama could announce his pick as early as this week, Obama held talks with Orrin Hatch and Jon Kyl, members of the Senate Judiciary committee, at the White House.

After the meeting, Hatch cautioned that Obama should not select anyone who adheres to their own views rather than the dictates of the U.S. Constitution.

London, May 06: International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano has urged member states to find a way to implement the 2009 resolution on Israel.

In a letter, Amano asked the foreign ministers of the 151 member states to share their views on how to persuade Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and open up its nuclear facilities for inspection.

washington, May 06: The United States expects to reconvene Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in an indirect format in the coming days, a U.S. spokesman said on Wednesday after the U.S. envoy met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We hope and expect formally to move forward with proximity talks before Senator (George) Mitchell leaves the region on Sunday,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington after Mitchell’s three hours of talks with Netanyahu.

Mexico City, May 06: More than 300 kg of synthetic drugs valued at $7.8 million have been seized by Mexican army troops in Tijuana city, near the border with San Diego, the defence secretariat said.

The quantity of drugs was sufficient to produce nearly 942,000 doses, it said.

The drugs were found packed in 276 plastic bags in a house near the US border, it said, adding that a vehicle was also seized during the operation.

Tijuana, in Baja California state, has been plagued by drug-related violence for many years as rival drug gangs fight for control of smuggling routes to the US.

Washington, May 06: President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he wanted to “begin work” on immigration reform this year and that U.S. officials would monitor a controversial new law in Arizona for civil rights implications.

Obama has been under pressure to keep his promise from the 2008 presidential campaign to overhaul U.S. immigration rules.

A tough new law in Arizona has brought the issue to the forefront of public debate and galvanized Hispanic voters, a key group whose support Obama’s Democrats need in November congressional elections.

Jakarta, May 06: A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, near an area devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a destructive, widespread tsunami although there was a small possibility of a local tsunami near the area of the quake.

London, May 06: Britons vote on Thursday in what is forecast to be the closest election since 1992, with the opposition Conservatives struggling to convert their opinion poll advantage into an outright majority.

The centre-right Conservatives, led by former public relations executive David Cameron, have seen their poll lead dwindle since the turn of the year, with voters seemingly reluctant to embrace their call for change after 13 years of rule by Labour.

Beijing, May 06: At least 23 people were killed and 161 injured after strong gale and heavy rain swept China’s Chongqing region Thursday morning, officials said.

The disastrous weather started at around 2.00 a.m. local time in Dianjiang and Liangping counties, toppling houses and damaging crops, Xinhua quoted government officials as saying.

Six people were killed and 34 injured in Liangping county while 17 people died and 127 were injured in Dianjiang county, they said.

The government has started relief work in the region.

—-Agencies

Washington, May 06: Pakistan-born Faisal Shahzad, whose father is a former Pakistani military official, had, at 29, spent over a decade in the US, collecting Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and landing a job with a Connecticut financial marketing company.

On April 17, 2009, he was among 58 people from 32 countries who were administered the oath of American citizenship by a federal magistrate in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Shahzad obtained citizenship through marriage to Colorado-born Huma Mian, who authorities say is now in Pakistan with the couple’s two children.

Washington, May 06: The New York City Police Department will be spared the planned loss of 892 officers through attrition, an administration official said, following Saturday’s failed car bomb attack on Times Square.

The force faced the threat of job losses due to the city’s cash crunch but other services will be slashed instead, a city spokesman said on Wednesday

The attempted car bombing has focused attention on security threats to New York.

Kathmandu, May 06: Nepal, engulfed in a political crisis, asked the United Nations on Wednesday to keep its peace-monitoring mission in place there even though the world body had hoped to start withdrawing it later this month.

Maoist former rebels called an indefinite general strike in the Himalayan state last weekend, demanding that the government make way for a national unity coalition headed by them.

Melbourne, May 05: Australia’s top scientists are bracing for up to 500 job cuts as the government may reduce financing for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in the budget.

Any staff changes would be reflected in next week’s federal Budget, a spokesman for the CSIRO said.

“We’re not commenting,” he said when asked if jobs would be lost. “There’s workforce planning going on at the moment.”

Information from a meeting of senior CSIRO executives indicates there are plans for widespread redundancies at the national science agency.