Month: June 2010

4 detained over failed UK envoy attack in Yemen

by

Sana’a, June 25: Yemen has detained four people in relation to a failed suicide attack on the British ambassador here in April, the ministry of defence said.

Authorities are questioning the four over the attack that killed the bomber and wounded three people, a statement posted on the ministry’s website said Thursday.

“The criminal prosecution dealing with terrorism affairs began interrogating the four suspects in connection with the assassination attempt on the British ambassador, who include a German, Iraqi and two Yemenis,” the statement said.

70 students suffer from food poisoning in China

by

Beijing, June 25: Seventy students fell ill after they had a meal at a primary school in south China, an official spokesman said.

The students suffered from fever, stomach aches and diarrhoea Wednesday after having food at Yingcai Primary School in Yulin City of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Xinhua quoted spokesman with the regional public security bureau Qin Yongjun as saying Thursday.

–IANS–

Teens held for running sex racket in China

by

Beijing, June 25: Police have detained four teenage girls who allegedly coerced their peers into prostitution in central China’s Henan province.

The detained girls, aged 16 to 17, were among six people detained after police broke up a teenage prostitution ring, Xinhua reported.

The suspected procurer of the teenage girls, Zhang Junli, had turned himself in, police said in a statement.

Greek minister escapes unhurt as bomb kills aide

by

Athens, June 25: Greece’s public order minister escaped injury after a bomb went off next to his office Thursday, killing a close aide, police said.

The bomb, a booby-trapped package disguised as a gift, exploded in the seventh-floor office of civil protection minister Michalis Chrysohoidis’ chief of staff, causing extensive damage.

The minister was reportedly in his office at the time of the blast, but was not injured.

Canada hosts Chinese president ahead of Indian PM

by

Toronto, June 25: Playing host to China before India, Canada Thursday inked many deals with Beijing to broaden their strategic partnership.

With Ottawa according top priority to the rising Asian giants, Chinese President Hu Jintao began his state visit Thursday just before the twin – G-8 and G-20 – summits here.

“This visit by President Hu confirms that the Canada-China strategic partnership is gaining momentum as we mark 40 years of diplomatic relations and chart a course for the future,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said, welcoming the Chinese president.

Sharapova helps Chernobyl disaster victims

by

United Nations, June 25: Russian tennis star Maria Sharopova will visit Belarus to take part in a UN project aimed at helping youth affected by a massive explosion in Chernobyl nuclear reactor 24 years ago.

Sharapova, 23, who is also a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Development Project (UNDP), will travel to the area near the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the country’s southeast after the Wimbledon tournament which will conclude next week, UN officials said Thursday.

Iran will not send aid ship to Gaza

by

Tehran, June 25: Iran will not send a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza as it had planned to do on Thursday, according to a report from the official news agency of Iran.

The Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Hossein Sheikholeslam, secretary-general of the International Conference for the Support of the Palestinian Intifada, as saying: “The Iranian ship carrying humanitarian aid will not go to Gaza.”

Deadliest month for Afghan troop

by

Washington, June 25: June has now become the deadliest month of the Afghan war for coalition troops, a grave milestone in the nearly nine-year-old conflict.

Four British soldiers were killed in a “vehicle incident” on Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, bringing the monthly death toll to 80, a count shows.

After Azher, Dhoni bring Asia Cup

by

Dambulla, June 25: A 15-year-old title drought came to an end as India won the Asia Cup cricket tournament after crushing defending champions Sri Lanka by 81 runs in a lop-sided final here today.

Electing to bat first, India posted a competitive 268 for six and then defended the total without much hiccup with the seamers producing a scintillating performance, skittling out the hosts for 187 in 44.4 overs at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.

India issues terrorism alert

by

New Delhi, June 25: Indian security forces have been placed on high alert because of fears of a possible attack by Pakistani terrorists.

The Indian government has issued an alert across the country after receiving intelligence information of a possible threat.

The Home Affairs Ministry is urging citizens to be vigilant, especially in crowded places such as markets.

The warning has been issued as home affairs minister P Chidambaram departs for a regional meeting in Pakistan, the first Indian ministerial visit since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

D. Srinivas to launch bus yatra

by

Hyderabad, June 25: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief D. Srinivas will lead the party’s campaign during the byelections to 10 Assembly constituencies in the Telangana region. Lacking a star campaigner for the bypolls, Mr. Srinivas’s decision to launch an extensive bus yatra covering all the segments soon after conclusion of the last day for filing nominations is seen as an attempt to create a niche for himself in the region.

CBI upset with MP police: Makkah Masjid case

by

Hyderabad, June 25: Almost three-year-old murder case of an RSS activist Sunil Joshi in Madhya Pradesh has caught the attention of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as part of its investigations in to Mecca Masjid blast case.

The CBI, which has already added Sunil’s name to the list of the accused in the case, was trying to fret out more information from another suspected militant Devender Gupta, who was in the agency’s custody for the last three days.

Working with Aamir would be a joy: Big B

by

Mumbai, June 25: Lately he has been interacting a lot with Bollywood perfectionist Aamir Khan and even convinced him to join Twitter. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan admits it would be nice to work with the talented actor, but there is no project in the pipeline yet.

“Why would you assume that when two actors meet and have dinner together they would be doing a project together? Aamir was in the same hotel as me. He called, we met and went out for a meal. Just another social evening, nothing more,” Big B, who recently dined with Aamir in London, told IANS in an interview.

Obama warns Pak, Act against terror

by

Washington, June 25: US President Barack Obama on Thursday stressed on the need to have a Government in Pakistan that is effective in taking action against terrorist outfits in the country.

“We have to make sure that we’ve got a Pakistani government that is working effectively with us to dismantle these networks,” Obama said as he reiterated his goal to dismantle and destroy Al Qaeda and its affiliates.

“The reason we’re there in the first place is because 3,000 Americans were killed from an attack launched in that region. We are not going to have that repeated,” he said.

Govt to go for Anderson extradition

by

New Delhi, June 25: In the backdrop of outrage over trial court verdict in Bhopal gas tragedy, government today announced a Rs 1265.56-crore package and decided to file a curative petition in Supreme Court besides pushing for extradition of former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson.

The Union Cabinet, which considered the report of the Group of Ministers on the 1984 disaster, accepted all its 22 recommendations but did not fix liability on anybody.

Indo-Pak talks end, terror issue taken up by Rao

by

Islamabad, June 25: Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan met here Thursday in their efforts to bridge the trust deficit and work out measures to counter terrorism to bring on track the stalled peace process.

Meeting for the second time in four months, Foreign Secretaries Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir described their parleys as “cordial” and “constructive” during which they tried to “understand each other’s position” and concern.

Govt for more jail term to check wildlife crime

by

New Delhi, June 25: Enhanced penalty to the tune of Rs five lakh along with a minimum jail term of five years, and empowering enforcement officials are some of the key features of a proposed Bill by the Centre to check rampant wildlife crime in the country.

With the present Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 failing to curb wildlife smuggling, the proposed amendments in the draft bill prepared by the Environment Ministry also seek to increase the efficiency of the prosecution process to ensure higher conviction rate.

Sena wants birth, death certificates in Marathi

by

Mumbai, June 25: In line with its ‘Marathi agenda’, Shiv Sena corporators in the Mumbai civic body have now proposed that birth and death certificates should be issued in the local language.

“The matter of issuing birth and death certificates in Marathi was raised in the general meeting of the civic body. We are thinking about the proposal, we haven’t decided anything yet,” Executive Health Officer G T Ambe said.

Russia launches second stealth warship for India

by

Moscow, June 25: Russia launched the second of three stealth frigates for the Indian Navy under USD 1.6 billion deal inked in July 2006.

The launching ceremony of the missile frigate Tarkash (Quiver) in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, was attended by senior Russian and Indian naval officials, state-owned Yantar shipyard said in a release.

The first of three Project 11356 (modified Krivak III) frigates, named the Teg (Sword), was launched in last November.

The third frigate, Trikand (Bow) is due to be delivered in 2011-12.

MP Health Minister booked in murder case

by

Gwalior, June 25: Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Anup Mishra was today booked on charges of criminal conspiracy and a case against his son and close relatives was registered in connection with the killing of a person in a firing incident involving the minister’s relatives, police said.

The minister was charged with criminal conspiracy while his son Ashwin, brothers Ajay Mishra and Abhay Mishra, cousin Deepak Vajpayee, brother-in-law Yogesh Sharma and others were booked in murder and other sections of IPC, they said.

My hurt addressed by LK Advani, says Jaswant

by

New Delhi, June 25: Rejoining the BJO nine months after he was unceremoniously thrown out for writing a controversial book on Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, veteran leader Jaswant Singh said his “hurt and humiliation had been addressed by LK Advani.”

At a function organised to announce his re-induction into the party fold, 72-year-old Singh profusely thanked senior BJP leader L K Advani for taking the initiative to bring him back to the BJP of which he was a founder member.

Jnaneshwari case: One of the accused was juvenile

by

Kolkata, June 25: In a significant development, CBI today informed a court that one of the six accused arrested in the Gyaneshwari train derailment case was juvenile on the day of committing crime.

During the course of investigation, the agency has seized a school certificate of accused Hira Lal. “It shows that his date of birth is June 1, 1992. The incident took place on the night of May 27, 2010. Thus he was three days less than attaining adulthood that is 18 years of age.

Sania, Paes win opening doubles matches in Wimbledon

by

London, June 25: Out of contention in singles, Sania Mirza was off to a winning start in women’s doubles event as the Indian and her Dane partner Caroline Wozniacki notched up a straight-set victory to enter the second round of the Wimbledon here.

Sania, who lost in the very first round of the singles event, and Wozniacki beat local favourites Anne Keothavong and Melanie South 6-4, 6-1.

Teenage lovers found hanging

by

Fatehabad, June 25: In yet another suspected honour killing, highly decomposed bodies of two teenaged lovers were found hanging in an abandoned house in Fatehabad district on Thursday, reports PTI from Fatehabad(Haryana).

The boy and the girl, who have not been identified yet, were found hanging from the hook of a ceiling fan, the police said. Police said the angle of honour killing could not be ruled out as both were found hanging from the same hook.

-PTI

Three held in Ghaziabad for Honour killing

by

Lucknow, June 25: Three youths Mandeep, Ankit and Nakul wanted in the sensational Delhi honour killings were nabbed by the Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday from Garh Mukteshwar locality in Ghaziabad district.

Addressing a press conference here UP Additional Director General of Police Brijlal said the arrests of the three accused were effected following a tip-off.