Month: January 2011

Sultan Bazaar traders ask for TDP help

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Hyderabad, January 29: Stepping up the pressure to change the alignment of Metro Corridor-II, traders of Sultan Bazar, Badichowdi, Koti, Putlibowli met Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu to help them in their cause to protect their livelihood.

After hearing their problems patiently, Chandrababu Naidu assured the traders that he would study the measures of re-alignment suggested by them and take up the matter seriously with the state government.

Traders alleged that some Congress leaders were behind the change of the Metro route.

Analysis: Leaks deepen Palestinian split

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Gaza, January 29: Palestinian Fatah supporters hold flags and signs during a rally supporting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and against Al-Jazeera, in the West Bank town of Jenin, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011. Al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based Arab satellite station, this week published excerpts from what it said is a cache of hundreds of documents covering a decade of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The station, widely watched in the Arab world, alleges that Abbas secretly made major concessions to Israel.

8 feared killed as lorry runs amok

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Hyderabad, January 29: Eight persons were feared killed and 15 others injured when a lorry crushed two auto-rickshaws, including a seven-seater, three motorcycles and a bicycle on the dangerous Nagole-L B Nagar route here on Friday night.

According to police, the driver of the lorry, who was on his way to Uppal from LB Nagar, lost control of the vehicle near the Nagole crossroads around 9.15 p.m. Within seconds, he hit a bicycle, two motorists and went on to crush a seven-seater as well as an auto-rickshaw.

Egyptian President Mubarak has never hesitated to use force against challenge to his rule

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Cairo, January 29: For three decades, President Hosni Mubarak has relied heavily on a robust, repressive security force to ensure his rule. The unapologetic message he delivered on state television early Saturday gave no sign that he was shifting course.

He clung instead to the formula that has sustained him again and again since he inherited power in 1981, after the assassination of Anwar Sadat. The time-tested Mubarak approach has been to shift blame, usually to Egypt’s shell of a government, while portraying his heavy-handed regime as a bulwark against chaos.

Egypt’s Internet Shutdown Can’t Stop Mass Protests

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Cairo, January 29: Egyptian anti-government activists chant slogans and hold a poster of the Egyptian resident Mubarak, with Arabic reading: “Mercy mercy, you traitor to your people,” as they protest in Cairo on Friday. The Egyptian capital was the scene of violent chaos Friday, when tens of thousands of anti-government protesters stoned and confronted police, who fired back with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons.

Separation Brings Sorrow In Army Wives’ Stories

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Washington, January 29: Siobhan Fallon’s husband, an Army major, has been away for half of the six years they’ve been married — deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. The experience has not been wasted on her. She gives us a rare insider’s view of the domestic face of war in her powerful, eye-opening debut collection of eight loosely linked short stories, You Know When the Men Are Gone.

US foreign aid to Egypt

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Washington, January 29: This might be of use: a bit of statistical context that suggests just how important Egypt is to US foreign policy. Since the Israel-Egypt peace accord in 1979, these two countries have been the number one and two recipients of US foreign aid. (Excluding money spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.) This amounts to around one-third of total US foreign aid.

Zahid Ali Khan slams UPA govt. for not fulfilling Muslims’ expectation

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New Delhi, January 29: UPA government has totally failed in fulfilling minorities’ expectations. When the UPA government was formed in the centre Muslims had expected that justice would be done to them and they would get their rights. The basis for this expectation was that the UPA’s chairperson Mrs Sonia Gandhi belongs to minority community. She is a Christian. Similarly Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too belongs to Sikh community which is also in minority. Looking at the two minority leaders at the national level the largest minority Muslims hoped that justice would be done to them.

Palestinian Is Shot in Head in Clash With Israeli Settlers

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Hebron, January 29: A 15-year-old Palestinian was fighting for his life on Friday in a hospital in this city in the southern West Bank after being shot in a brush with armed Jewish settlers.

It was the second such incident in two days. On Thursday, a young Palestinian was killed by an Israeli, presumed to be a local Jewish settler, in the Palestinian village of Iraq Burin in the northern West Bank.

Egyptian Police Using U.S.-Made Tear Gas Against Demonstrators

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Cairo, January 29: Egyptian riot police are firing tear gas canisters bearing the label “Made in U.S.A” against street demonstrations in Cairo, according to protesters who provided ABC News with pictures of the canisters.

The protestors said the tear gas canisters were recovered in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo on Tuesday.

The label urges anyone who comes in contact with the gas “to seek assistance as soon as possible.”

According to the canister labels, the tear gas is produced by Combined Systems International of Jamestown, Pennsylvania.

Suicide bomber kills Kandahar deputy governor

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Kandahar, January 29: A motorcycle suicide bomber killed the deputy governor of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province on Saturday, a blow to U.S.-led forces trying to bolster governance and fight a robust insurgency in the Taliban’s heartland.

Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since U.S.-backed Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001 with casualties on all sides at record levels and militant attacks increasing in number and spreading to almost every part of the country.

Anti-Saleh Rallies Continue in Yemen

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Yemen, January 29: Thousands of protesters continue to rally in Sanaa tonight, demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh resign, and citing the successful ouster of Tunisian President Ben Ali as a precedent for their rallies.

Thousands Protest Against Jordanian Govt

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Jordan, January 29: The pro-democracy protests spreading across the Middle East have found some eager supporters in Jordan, where thousands took to the street of Amman to demand that Prime Minister Samir Rifal step down and that a new, elected government be allowed to take its place.

Suicide Bombing in Kabul Supermarket Kills Nine

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Kabul, January 29: Three foreigners were among the nine people killed today when a suicide bomber hit a supermarket in the diplomatic region of Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul. At least 13 others were reported wounded.

According to Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mijahid, the attack on Finest Supermarket targeted the chief of Blackwater security forces, whom they believed to be in the supermarket at the time. Blackwater confirmed having personnel in the area, but insisted none were amongst the casualties.

Pro-Democracy Revolutions a Big Problem for US

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Washington, January 29: The pro-democracy revolutions in Northern Africa and the Middle East have been a big problem for the region’s assorted dictators, but may well be an even bigger problem for the US, whose leaders don’t have the luxury of simply fleeing to Saudi Arabia with a big chunk of the national treasury when things turn sour.

The only comparison for the US can be to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, in which the US backed Shah was ousted in favor of a Shi’ite theocracy. In this case, however, President Obama must contend with unrest in not one, but several key allied nations.

WikiLeaks Cables Detail Egyptian Repression, Torture

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Cairo, January 29: With the eyes of the world already on Egypt, WikiLeaks released a massive collection of cables related to Egypt today, detailing broad-based repression of political dissident and indeed even those officials conceivably could see as undermining their rule.

Egyptian officials moved against journalists, novelists, bloggers, even amateur poets, for criticism of the government and detailing the levels of police brutality around the world.

Mubarak Sacks Cabinet, Promises New Govt on Saturday

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Cairo, January 29: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today sought to placate protesters demanding his ouster by promising to sack his entire cabinet, and name a new one at some point on Saturday. He insisted however that he would retain his position as president.

Sixty raped in attacks on Congo villages: U.N.

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Bukavu, January 29: Armed men have raped 60 people in eastern Congo in the last ten days, the latest in a spate of mass sexual attacks in the region, the United Nations said Friday.

Two attacks took place in the villages of Nakatete and Kitumba in the Fizi area of South Kivu province from January 19 to January 21, Charline Burton, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Reuters.

Tony Blair: Palestine papers harmful to Mideast peace process

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London, January 29: The leaking of the so-called Palestine Papers was designed to be “extremely damaging” to the peace process in the Middle East, former British prime minister Tony Blair said Friday.

The documents, which were leaked earlier this week to Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based Arab satellite station, and the Guardian in London, would be “destabilizing” for the Palestinians, Blair said in a BBC radio interview.

“I think it is hard to tell right now but its intention was to be extremely damaging,” said Blair, who is a special envoy for the so-called Middle East Quartet.

Special court rejects defence counsel application in Jaya case

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Bangalore, January 29: A special court today rejected application filed by the defence counsel seeking more time to point out “defects” in the translated evidences of all the 259 witnesses in the trial of the disproportionate assets case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

Rejecting application filed by defence counsel Navaneetha Krishnan on January 27, special court Judge B M Mallikarjunaiah, however, stated that wherever corrections are necessary, it will be taken into consideration at an appropriate stage.

US warns Americans to defer travel to Egypt

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Washington, January 29: The State Department is urging Americans to defer any non-essential travel to Egypt because of the large anti-government protests and warning U.S. citizens already in the country to stay put until the situation stabilizes.

In a travel alert issued on Friday, the department said the situation in the capital, Cairo, and other cities is volatile as the military and security forces move to quell the demonstrations. It said Americans in Egypt now should remain in their homes or hotels until calm is restored.

Twin truck bombings kill four, injure 19 in Pakistan

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Peshawar, January 29: At least four people including two women were killed and 19 others wounded in twin truck bombings that targeted a key road tunnel in Pakistan’s northwest, officials said Saturday.

The attacks took place late Friday night in and outside the tunnel which connects the main city of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to the city of Kohat.

In the first attack, “an explosive-laden truck entered the tunnel and blew up, badly damaging another truck behind it, wounding five people,” top administration official in Kohat, Shahidullah, told AFP.

Israel Fears Regime Change in Egypt

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Jerusalem, January 29: Israel is watching developments in Egypt with concern. The government is standing by autocratic Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, out of fear that the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood could take power and start supplying arms to Hamas.

Egypt’s Military Is Seen as Pivotal in Next Step

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Cairo, January 29: Even as armored military vehicles deployed around important Egyptian government institutions on Friday for the first time in decades, it remained difficult to predict what role the armed forces might play in either quelling the disturbances or easing President Hosni Mubarak from power.

“Are they on the side of the nation or are they on the side of the regime?” a former senior Western diplomat with long service in Cairo asked. “That distinction had been blurred. We are now seeing a modern test of whether there is a separation between the two.”