Month: January 2014

Shells fired from Syria kill 8 in Lebanon

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Shells fired from war-torn Syria killed eight people, including five children, when they rained down on the Lebanese border town of Arsal , officials said.

The attack was the deadliest on the Sunni town since war erupted in neighbouring Syria nearly three years ago.

The deaths came as at least 20 rockets and shells launched from Syria hit border areas in the eastern Bekaa Valley yesterday, which has seen frequent Syria-related violence.

President Michel Sleiman called on the army to “protect” border villages, while ex-premier Saad Hariri described the attack as a “massacre.”

Germany welcomes Obama’s pledge to curb mass spying

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Berlin has welcomed President Barack Obama’s pledge to curtail the reach of the secretive US spy agency, stressing that German law must be respected on German soil.

“Many in Germany are rightly concerned over the information on the activities of the NSA (National Security Agency) regarding the security of their private information,” the government’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told AFP yesterday.

Man pleads guilty to sending ricin-tainted letters

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A Mississippi man has pleaded guilty to sending poison-laced letters to President Barack Obama and other officials.

James Everett Dutschke entered the plea yesterday during a hearing in US District Court in Oxford, Mississippi.

The 42-year-old previously pleaded not guilty and denied sending the letters. He also denied a later charge that, while incarcerated, he tried to recruit someone else to send a ricin-tainted letter.

Dutschke has been jailed since April on charges of sending the letters to Obama, Republican US Sen. Roger Wicker, and a Mississippi judge.

US OKs mental disability blood test for infants

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The Food and Drug Administration has cleared a first-of-a-kind blood test that can help predict intellectual disabilities in infants by analysing their genetic code.

The laboratory test from Affymetrix detects variations in patients’ chromosomes that are linked to Down syndrome, DiGeorge syndrome and other developmental disorders.

About 2 to 3 per cent of US children have some sort of intellectual disability, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Jerusalem panel meets amid Israel-EU settlement row

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Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas warned today against Israel using peace talks as a “cover” to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Abbas was speaking in Morocco at a meeting of the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Committee amid heightened concern by Arab and Western nations over new Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The US-brokered peace talks must “not serve as a cover for the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories,” said Abbas.

Defence says ‘no motive’ to murder Lebanon’s Hariri

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Lawyers representing four Hezbollah members being tried in absentia for the 2005 killing of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri today dismissed the prosecution’s case so far, saying it was “bereft of motive.”

Speaking on the second day of the trial before a UN-backed court in The Hague, defence lawyers said the prosecution’s allegations over who killed billionaire Hariri and 22 others in the February 15, 2005 car bombing were a “mere theory.”

“It’s quite surprising to see this crime bereft of motive for the time being,” Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse told journalists.

Several Muslims dead in Myanmar sectarian unrest: activist

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Several people including women and a child have been killed in an attack on Rohingya Muslims in strife-torn western Myanmar, a rights group said, as the United States voiced alarm.

Myanmar’s Rakhine state remains tense after several outbreaks of communal bloodshed between Buddhist and Muslim communities since 2012 that have killed scores and displaced 140,000 people, mainly from the Rohingya minority.

Communal forces a huge threat to nation: Sonia Gandhi

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Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) meet said that there was a face hidden behind the mask of compassion of the opposition, and added that communal forces were a threat to the nation, hinting at the same. “Communal forces a great danger to our nation. Divisive forces are stretching social fabric to the breaking point, but Congress believes in uniting the nation,” said Gandhi. “Opposition”s way is to spread disharmony.

Congress aware they won’t form government, why announce a leader: Arun Jaitley

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley on Friday said that the Congress knew they will not be forming a government, and that is why there was no point to announce a potential leader. “I think it’s the recognition of reality, since Congress knows they won’t form the government, so why announce a potential leader,” said Jaitley. Jaitley’s reaction came after the Congress had on Thursday announced that party Vice President Rahul Gandhi will not be named as the party”s prime ministerial candidate, but will lead the party”s election campaign.

Any victory for Congress in 2014 will be Rahul Gandhi’s victory: Manmohan Singh

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) meet on Friday said that any victory for the Congress in 2014 will be party Vice President Rahul Gandhi”s victory. “If we work hard and tell people what we have done, we can win and any victory in 2014 will be Rahul Gandhi”s victory,” said Singh. “I would also like to express my gratitude towards party President Sonia Gandhi, and would like to say that the commitment shown by her has benefited the government tremendously,” he said. He also said that the Congress had always worked towards bringing transparency.

US Methodist clergyman charged over gay wedding

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The United Methodist Church has formally charged another clergyman for presiding at the same-sex wedding of his son.

The Rev. Thomas Ogletree will be tried March 10 for violating church law against officiating at gay unions, his spokeswoman, Dorothee Benz, announced yesterday.

It’s the second high-profile United Methodist trial in recent months over same-sex relationships. In December, pastor Frank Schaefer of central Pennsylvania was defrocked after he officiated at his son’s gay wedding.

The church considers homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Rapes will happen till the time police don’t understand their responsibility: Manish Sisodia

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Reacting to the rape of a Danish woman in the capital on Tuesday Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Friday said that the police is responsible for these mishaps, and therefore the station house officer of the area should be suspended. “The SHO needs to be suspended as it is his responsibility to make sure such incidents do not take place,’ said Sisodia. “Till the time the police do not get this message, women will keep getting raped in the capital. Therefore, it is very important that we take this step,” he said.

AAP should stop corruption within party: Salman Khurshid

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External Affairs Salman Khurshid on Friday said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) need to put an end to corruption in their party, before putting an end to corruption in Delhi, adding that the Congress did not consider the AAP to be a threat at all. “We want them to put an end to corruption but firstly they will have to end the corruption in their own party and their law minister,” said Khurshid. “We do not consider the AAP or Arvind Kejriwal to be a threat or challenge at all. But they have won the Delhi elections so we respect the fact that they have potential” he said. (ANI)

Congress never promotes communal violence, believes in unity: Rahul Gandhi

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Making an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) meet on Friday said that the Congress does not play politics by turning people against one and, by lighting the fire of communal violence, and that it believes in unity. “We do not play politics by turning people against one and other, lighting the fire of communal violence because we believe in unity,” said Gandhi. He also said that there were six pending bills in the Parliament that needed to be passed.

Two Britons charged with Syria terrorism offences

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Two British men have been charged with travelling to Syria for the purposes of terrorism, police said, while another man was arrested on suspicion of attending a terror camp in the war-ravaged country.

Yusuf Sawar and Mohammed Ahmed, both 21 and from Birmingham in central England, will appear in court in London today “charged with planning and travelling to Syria for terrorism”, West Midlands Police said in a Twitter statement yesterday.

Four UN staff ‘unaccounted for’ after Kabul attack: UN

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Four United Nations’ employees were missing five hours after at least 14 people were killed in a multiple Taliban suicide attack on a popular restaurant in Kabul, UN officials said.

“Four UN civilian personnel, who reportedly could have been present in close proximity to the scene of Friday’s (yesterday’s) attack in Kabul, still remain unaccounted for,” UN spokesman Ari Gaitanis told AFP.

“The UN is making efforts to clarify the status of its personnel.

Sonia lauds enthusiasm of party workers, says ‘Congress will win 2014 polls’

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UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Friday appreciated the support of her party members, and said that their enthusiasm and energy indicate that the Congress Party is ready to win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. “The enthusiasm and the energy in the party members show that the party is ready for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and we will the polls. If we are determined to get something, we will achieve it, and there is no force that can defeat the Congress Party,” she said while concluding the All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) meeting here today.

Congress leaders praise Rahul Gandhi for his vision, commitment towards nation

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Hours after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi delivered his fiery speech at the Talkatora Stadium here on Friday, party leaders and workers lauded the 43-year-old scion, and said his vision and commitment towards the nation is par excellence. Union Human Resource and Development (HRD) Minister M.M. Pallam Raju said Rahul Gandhi has set the right message, and added that the party would always think about the people, and give an administration that fully works for nation’s welfare. “He has reminded everybody that Congress Party is deeply rooted in the ethos of country.

Nation wants to change ‘leaderless’, ‘visionless’ Congress: BJP

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday took a jibe at the ruling Congress Party, stating that there is only corruption in the government which has no leader or any vision for the nation. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “I want to ask Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi why is that the country has a growth rate below 5 percent, and all the BJP ruled states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa has a growth rate of 10-11 percent?

Delhi Govt. to Shinde: ‘Will protest at Home Minister’s office if cops are not suspended’

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Friday said that the party delegation led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to suspend the police officers who had countered a government directive two days ago, and added that if erring cops are not suspended by Monday, the party would protest outside the Home Minister’s office. “The policemen who did not fulfill their duties should be suspended immediately. If by Monday erring police officers are not suspended then we will sit on a ‘dharna’ demanding it,” he told media here today.

Nawaz Sharif remembers Vajpayee, Dev Anand’s Lahore visit

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today recalled former Indian Premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s historic trip to Lahore when he was awared an honorary doctorate by a leading university here.

A beaming Sharif, who is an alumnus of the Government College University (GCU), said, “I used to play cricket in the Oval ground and I was a prominent member of the cricket team.”

He recalled a visit of Vajpayee to Lahore in 1999 and said film star Dev Anand had expressed his wish to see the university as he was also a Ravian.

Cause of Sunanda Pushkar’s death not clear, says Tharoor’s personal secretary

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Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD) Shashi Tharoor was found dead in her hotel room on Friday night. Her body was found in Room number 345 of the Leela Hotel in the capital, and the Delhi Police Commissioner has ordered an inquiry into this matter. Shashi Tharoor’s personal secretary Abhinav Kumar confirmed her death, and said that the cause of death can be ascertained only after the post mortem report. “Sunanda Tharoor was found dead in her hotel room lying in her bed.

25-year driver arrested for sexual assaulting teenager

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A 25-year-old man was today arrested on charges of allegedly abducting and sexually assaulting a girl near Anamalai in the district, police said.

The teenaged girl, a mill worker, had spurned Harishankar, a driver, and irked over this, he reportedly kidnapped her and sexually assaulted her last evening, police said.

Harishankar, who absconded, was arrested today, police said.

-_PTI

Digvijay Singh gets court relief in land scam

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Congress leader Digvijay Singh today got a major relief from a Special Court which accepted a closure report submitted by police in over a decade-old land scam to which he was linked.

Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had filed a corruption case against Digvijay, Madhya Pradesh Assembly’s current Deputy Speaker and former Housing and Environment Minister Rajendra Kumar Singh and others for changing the land use.

EOW case was that housing plots were developed on a piece of land here reserved for industrial use between 2001-2003 when Digvijay was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Modi blames UPA for damaging IT industry

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Narendra Modi today charged the UPA Government with “damaging” the Information Technology industry and said various scams during its tenure have dented the country’s reputation in the sector.

The BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate singled out the 2G scam and said it caused serious damage to India’s reputation.