Month: May 2010

Moscow, May 05: President Dmitry Medvedev will travel to Syria next week, the Kremlin said Wednesday, the first visit by a Kremlin chief as Russia seeks to tighten ties with Cold War-era allies in the Middle East.

“Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will visit the Syrian Arab Republic on an official visit on May 10-11,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

A Kremlin spokesman said Medvedev’s two-day trip would be the first ever visit to the country by any Russian or Soviet head of state.

Rabat, May 05: Morocco welcomed Tuesday a UN resolution on the disputed Western Sahara as confirming that negotiations should focus on autonomy for the region and not outright independence.

“Resolution 1920 (…) fits perfectly the Moroccan vision and approach,” Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri said.

The resolution, adopted by the UN Security Council last Friday, “confirms the fundamental objective … is intensive and substantive negotiations based on the preeminence of the Moroccan initiative on autonomy,” he added.

Washington, May 05: US envoy Scott Gration returned this week to Sudan, his first visit there since last month’s controversial elections, to pursue efforts to stabilize both southern and western parts of the country.

US State Department officials said Gration arrived Monday in the Sudanese capital Khartoum for two days of talks with Sudanese, UN and other officials about the fragile 2005 north-south Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

The envoy is also likely to discuss the aftermath of the April 11-15 multi-party polls, the first in 24 years which re-elected President Omar al-Beshir.

Rabat, May 05: Homages have been paid to Mohamed Abed Al-Jabri, the Moroccan Islamic philosopher, critic and political ideologue for a socialist opposition party, who died in Casablanca this week.

The king of Morocco, Mohammed VI, extended his condolences to the al Jabri family, referring to the philosopher as “one of the greatest Moroccan thinkers, a model of self-reliance, seriousness, integrity and enlightened thought”, according to the Moroccan state news agency, MAP.

Paris, May 05: A film about France’s colonial past in Algeria sparked a row ahead of its Cannes film festival screening, with calls for it to be banned for rewriting history and politicians joining the row on Tuesday.

Critics have branded “Outside Of The Law” by Rachid Bouchareb, a filmmaker who was born in France to Algerian parents, as an attempt to rewrite the painful history that links France with its former colony in north Africa.

London, May 05: A Last-minute rally in support for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s embattled Labour government has given it hope of clinging to power in this week’s general election.

As Mr Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg staged a frantic push to win over undecided voters in the final 24 hours of the campaign, opinion polls suggested Labour could be returned for an historic fourth term.

However reports also suggested the Tories might be able to form a majority government with the support of a handful of Northern Ireland MPs.

Britain, May 05: Britain and Ireland have grounded flights again after a fresh cloud of ash swept in from the Icelandic volcano which sparked unprecedented air travel chaos in Europe last month.

British regulators imposed a flight ban from Scottish and Northern Irish airports from 7am (4pm AEST) for 12 hours for most affected airports, warning that high ash levels could damage plane engines.

Johannesburg, May 05: A South African official says 23 people have died after a bus headed to Cape Town overturned on a highway.

Department of Community Safety spokesman Xenophone Wentzel told the South African Press Association that four children were among the victims.

The driver of the bus was seriously injured but survived the crash.

Mr Wentzel says the bus involved was not roadworthy and had been suspended by the Eastern Cape traffic department.

Road accidents are common in South Africa, often the result of speeding drivers and vehicles in bad repair.

Athens, May 05: Three people have died in a firebomb attack on an Athens bank, as protests in the Greek capital become more violent.

Hooded youths hurled petrol bombs in protest of a government austerity drive.

As many as 20 people were inside the bank when it was set alight.

Riot police sprayed tear gas at hoards of angry citizens who were throwing rocks and makeshift explosives.

A group of about 60 people broke through a police line to reach the debt-stricken country’s Parliament.

—Agencies

Mexico, May 05: BP has sealed the smallest of three leaks gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, but this won’t alter the amount of crude spilling into the sea, officials claimed last night.

“BP has been able to cap one of the three leaks so there is no more flow and now we are only working with two leaks which makes mitigating the situation a little less complicated,” said US Coast Guard Petty Officer Brandon Blackwell.

“We’re expecting the flow to remain the same even though there are now only two leaks.

Beijing, May 05: A Six-year-old Chinese boy was left dangling by his ears eight stories above a bustling street after he slipped through window bars outside of his family’s apartment.

Passers-by were stunned when they heard little Ming Ming’s terrified screams and looked up to see him hanging by his head, The Sun reported.

The only thing stopping the lad from plunging to his death was the fact his head was wedged between two window bars.

Horrified neighbours in Yichang, Hubei Province, could only watch as emergency services raced to the scene.

Russia, May 05: A Russian court has convicted two men of murdering and eating a 16-year-old schoolgirl.

A 21-year-old Goth-rock musician was sentenced to 19 years in a maximum-security prison while his 20-year-old accomplice got 18 years.

The court heard the musician lured his victim to his apartment in January where he and his friend drowned her in a bathtub and cooked parts of her body in an oven.

The men said they killed the woman because they were hungry.

—Agencies

Libya, May 05: Libya is wasting its resources on women who prefer to get married and stay at home rather than work, according to Muammar Gaddafi’s son.

“Women don’t face any kind of discrimination in Libya. Women and men are equal,” Seif al-Islam Gaddafi told students, academics and dignitaries at the American University in Cairo.

New Delhi, May 05: On his way back to India, US ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer stopped over in Pakistan to meet his counterpart in IIslamabad.

This visit was quite unusual, as the envoy announced his willingness to visit Afghanistan a few days ago, but he never mentioned his visit to Isalmabad.

The ambassador visited Afghanistan Monday and stopped in Pakistan for a day on his way back to India, a US embassy official said here Wednesday.