Geneva/Tunis, March 01: The UN refugee agency warned Tuesday that the situation at the Libya-Tunisia border was reaching “crisis point” as thousands of people flee the violence in Libya.
The Tunisian border point of Ras Jdir has been swamped by tens of thousands of refugees since the uprising against Moamer Gaddafi’s regime began two weeks ago. Libya’s eastern border with Tunisia has also seen an exodus of foreign workers.
Dubai, March 01: Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Tuesday visited the annual food exhibition in the United Arab Emirates.
The exhibition, Gulfood 2011, hosts 3,800 exhibitors and 81 international pavilions at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The event also has a Spanish pavilion which houses 160 companies from that country.
The visiting prime minister was accompanied by Spanish ambassador to the UAE Gonzalo de Benito and other officials.
-Agencies
New Delhi, March 01: The Supreme Court Tuesday took serious exception to the West Bengal government challenging a Calcutta High Court order asking the CBI to probe the Jan 7 violence in Netai village in West Midnapore district which left nine people dead and several injured.
“The highest judicial authority (chief justice of high court) in the state has ordered it (the probe) after going through the case records, still it doesn’t inspire confidence (in the state government),” an apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly.
New Delhi, March 01: Less than a month after a woman’s body was found dumped in a bag at the New Delhi Railway Station, a man was arrested from west Delhi for helping the victim’s live-in partner dispose off the corpse, police said Tuesday.
Naveen Shokeen was arrested from Nangloi Monday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Chand said.
“The main accused Raju Gehlot is still absconding,” he added.
Naveen told the police that he received a call Feb 11 at around 5 a.m. from Raju, who wanted his help in disposing off the body.
New Delhi/Chennai, March 01: The Congress has sought at least 75 seats from Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK for the April 13 assembly polls as also a place in the government in case of an electoral victory, party leaders said.
Congress leaders tasked with seat-sharing talks met party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi Tuesday and briefed her about their discussions with DMK leaders last week.
Paris, March 01: French fashion house Dior said Tuesday it had taken steps to fire star British designer John Galliano, who is accused of making repeated anti-Semitic outbursts at a bar in Paris.
Christian Dior Couture said in a statement it had “decided on his (Galliano’s) immediate dismissal and begun the process of retrenchment”.
Police in France are investigating Galliano, 50, after a couple and a woman accused him of anti-Semitic insults in two separate episodes at a bistro in the historic Le Marais neighbourhood of central Paris. The couple also accuse him of racial insults.
Tehran/Berlin, March 01: Police fired tear gas on crowds of demonstrators in Tehran Tuesday, as fresh protests got underway against the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, opposition websites and witnesses reported.
Thousands of people gathered in several parts of Tehran to protest the alleged imprisonment of two main opposition leaders – Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and their wives, Zahra Ranhavard and Fatemeh Karroubi – in the Heshmatieh military prison in eastern Tehran.
New Delhi/Hyderabad, March 01: A day after two people were killed in police firing during a protest against a power plant under construction in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district, the environment ministry Tuesday ordered suspension of work at the site.
Hours after Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh spoke in parliament threatening to slap another showcause notice on East Coast Energy Pvt Ltd, the ministry issued an order seeking a report by March 6 from the company on compliance with the conditions for environmental clearance.
New Delhi/Kolkata, March 01: With the Supreme Court Tuesday setting aside a Calcutta High Court order, Kolkata-based businessman Ashok Todi will now be tried for abetting the suicide of his son-in-law Rizwanur Rehman and not for his murder.
In a ruling that took Rizwanur’s family by surprise, the apex court said Todi and the others would face trial for abetment to suicide, conspiracy and criminal intimidation in the unnatural death of the young man.
New Delhi, March 01: A day after presenting the budget for 2011-12, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he was confident of reducing the fiscal deficit to 4.6 percent during the year.
“I have brought the fiscal deficit down to 5.1 percent of GDP in 2010-11 and 4.6 percent in 2011-12, which improves on my own target under the last year’s medium term fiscal policy statement,” Mukherjee said at a post-budget meeting with industry associations here Tuesday.
Kolkata, March 01: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) monitoring the union government’s flagship rural employment guarantee scheme feel that the budgetary proposal linking wages to the consumer price index (CPI) could lead to exploitation of the beneficiaries by politicians.
As many of the rural bodies lack internet connectivity, implementing the proposal could pose problems due to delays in sensitising the grassroots in time about changes in the wages rates, they say.
Colombo, March 01: Scoreboard of World Cup Group A match between Sri Lanka and Kenya here Tuesday:
Kenya:
Maurice Ouma lbw b Kulasekara 1
Seren Waters lbw b Malinga 3
Collins Obuya b Malinga 52
David Obuya c Samaraweera b Muralitharan 51
Steve Tikolo c Dilshan b Mathews 7
Tanmay Mishra lbw b Malinga 0
Jimmy Kamande run out (Silva) 1
Nehemiah Odhiambo not out 8
Peter Ongondo b Malinga 0
Shem Ngoche b Malinga 0
Elijah Otieno b Malinga 0
Extras: (b-1, lb-6, w-9, nb-3) 19
Total: (all out in 43.4 overs) 142
New Delhi, March 01: The Supreme Court was told Tuesday that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has till now interrogated 63 people in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.
An apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly was informed by the central government that on its suggestion for setting up a special court to try cases arising out of the scam, the Delhi High Court chief justice had been approached and a reply was awaited.
The court told the government to get back to it with a definite answer by March 15.
Islamabad, March 01: A Pakistani media group Tuesday said it will oppose the government’s new rule that requires a no-objection certificate (NOC) and visa clearance for journalists and artists going to India.
The South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) also threatened to boycott the coverage of the secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan scheduled in July if the government of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani did not withdraw its decision to enforce the new rule.
New Delhi, March 01: The Supreme Court was told Tuesday that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has till now interrogated 63 people in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.
An apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly was informed by the central government that on its suggestion for setting up a special court to try cases arising out of the scam, the Delhi High Court chief justice had been approached and a reply was awaited.
The court told the government to get back to it with a definite answer by March 15.
Kolkata, March 01: West Bengal’s main opposition Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday welcomed the announcement of six-phased assembly polls in the state.
“We welcome the decision of the Election Commission to hold assembly polls in six phases. We are with the Election Commission’s decision. Since the birth of our party Trinamool Congress, we have always welcomed the decision of the EC,” Banerjee, whose party is a strong contender in the polls, told a media meet here.
Washington, March 01: Al-Kidd said he has two main goals: personal vindication and “to insure this doesn’t happen to other people.” Now teaching English at a university in Saudi Arabia, al-Kidd sat for an interview shortly after returning to the United States this month to see his two children and other relatives.
Washington, March 01: The era of big land wars is ending. Any senior official recommending a large-scale deployment of U.S. ground troops to Asia, the Middle East or Africa “should have his head examined,” to quote Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Instead, get ready for a new epoch of air and sea wars. Those were the surprising remarks Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivered to an audience of U.S. Army cadets at West Point, New York, on Friday.
Baghdad, March 01: Iraqi police arrest a protester during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Feb. 25, 2011. Thousands marched on government buildings and clashed with security forces in cities across Iraq on Friday, in the largest and most violent anti-government protests here since political unrest began spreading in the Arab world several weeks ago.
Washington, March 01: The United States moved warships and aircraft closer to Libya Monday and froze $30 billion in assets, ramping up pressure on what a top U.S. envoy called a “delusional” Muammar Gaddafi to relinquish power.
In the hardest-hitting U.S. denunciation yet of Libya’s leader, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Gaddafi is “disconnected from reality,” is “slaughtering his own people” and is unfit to lead.
Sohar, March 01: Demonstrators blocked roads to a main port in northern Oman and looted a nearby supermarket on Monday, part of protests to demand more jobs and political reform that have spread to the sultanate’s capital.
A doctor said six people had been killed in clashes between stone-throwing protesters and police on Sunday in the northern industrial town of Sohar. Oman’s health minister said one person had been killed and 20 wounded.
Brussels, March 01: A senior Israeli official is suggesting the Muslim Brotherhood should be banned from standing in Egyptian elections because it is an extremist organization.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Monday Israel would object to the Brotherhood being part of a future government “on the merit of their agenda … and their policies.”
Tripoli, March 01: As opposition forces put Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi under increasing pressure, the post-Gadhafi era has already begun in the eastern part of the country. Victorious rebels are turning to the task of governing, but no one knows what will replace the despot’s system. By SPIEGEL Staff.
Tripoli, March 01: International pressure is mounting on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to leave Libya, but he told an American television network that Libyans love him and he has no plans to step down. Meantime, U.S. officials have come out with their strongest statement yet that Mr. Gadhafi must go, and anti-Gadhafi forces in Zawiya say they are repelling troops loyal to the Libyan leader.
Zawiya is 50 kilometers west of Tripoli. Witnesses tell VOA that troops and tanks loyal to Moammar Gadhafi are lined up along the coastline, blocking the city’s access to the sea.
Manama, March 01: Bahrainis campaigning for democratic reforms in the Gulf Arab state staged a protest outside the U.S. ally’s parliament building on Monday, demanding that all its members resign over protester deaths.
Seven people were killed and hundreds wounded in protests earlier this month by Bahrainis mainly from the majority Shi’ite Muslim community who complain of repression by the Sunni monarchy and Sunni ruling elite.