Sydney, October 18: Two boats carrying passengers have run into trouble in Indonesian and Malaysian waters and Australia’s navy is providing assistance, an Australian government spokesman said on Sunday.
A spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor told Reuters that it was unclear how many people were on board the boats or whether they were asylum-seekers.
Mumbai, October 18: An ashen Anil Ambani, one of the world’s richest men, stood before a clutter of television cameras, close to tears.
“There is only pain, hurt and emotion,” he said, his voice catching.
There is also, by some calculations, at least $17 billion at stake.
Anil and his brother Mukesh — ranked by Forbes magazine as the world’s 34th and 7th richest individuals — are locked in an increasingly bitter fight over India’s biggest natural gas deposit.
New Delhi, October 18: As people celebrated Diwali Saturday, the national capital reported as many as 207 cases of fire incidents. But there were no major cases among them, Delhi Fire Service said Sunday.
“We received 207 fire calls and they were mainly Diwali related. The number is more than double the number we receive in a normal day,” a fire service official told IANS.
He said in a normal day they receive around 90 cases.
“After midnight of Diwali we received 62 cases,” the official said adding that this post-midnight number is also much higher than a normal night.
Chennai, October 18: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and discussed about the resettlement of over 2.5 lakh Tamils displaced by the war against LTTE in Sri Lanka. After his brief meeting with the DMK leader, Chidambaram said the Centre would allocate more funds to Colombo for the rehabilitation of Tamils, if required.
“The Centre had already allocated Rs 500 crore (towards the rehabilitation of Tamils). We can allocate more if required,” he told reporters.
Kuala Lumpur, October 18: Malaysian police detained 18 Afghan immigrants trying to sail illegally to Indonesia in a rickety boat, an official said Sunday.
Authorities found the immigrants with two Indonesian boatmen while patrolling waters between peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia’s Sumatra island late Saturday, said Marzuki Ismail, the marine police chief of central Selangor state.
Chennai, October 18: The Indian government is ready to release Rs.500 crore (Rs.5 billion) to Sri Lanka if needed for the rehabilitation of Tamils affected by the internal strife there, union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here Sunday.
“The Indian government has already announced financial assistance of Rs.500 crore for the rehabilitation of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. We are ready to sanction a similar amount if needed,” he told reporters.
Melbourne, October 18: The mother of an Australian baby which miraculously survived a collision with a train is still recovering from the experience and becomes upset by footage of the accident, a report said Sunday.
The six-month-old boy, who has not been named, was strapped into a pram which rolled away from his mother and into the path of an oncoming train at Melbourne’s Ashburton station on Thursday.
Washington, October 18: US Senator John Kerry said, in an interview to be aired Sunday, it was “irresponsible” to send more US troops to Afghanistan at this time, amid a deepening election crisis that has placed the Kabul government’s legitimacy at stake.
The United States should not proceed with a new Afghanistan strategy committing a potentially major increase in US resources, including tens of thousands more troops, without first securing a clear partner in Kabul, Kerry told CNN.
Kabul, October 18: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, in Afghanistan to speak to President Hamid Karzai and his main election rival, said on Sunday the two were ready to “work together” to resolve the election crisis.
“They talked, both of them, about the necessity of working together,” he told reporters after talks with Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. “Honestly, this is the minimum they could do.”
–Agencies
Manila, October 18: Philippine disaster-response agencies packed tons of food aid, readied a helicopter and prepared a massive evacuation plan in the mountainous north Sunday as another typhoon threatened the country after back-to-back storms killed more than 750 people.
Typhoon Lupit, roaring over the Pacific Ocean with sustained winds of 108 mph (175 kph) and gusts of 130 mph (210 kph), will likely spare Manila but could slam into the north in about three days, chief weather forecaster Prisco Nilo said.
Lahore, October 18: The Sports Ministry has asked Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to take its own independent decision on Younis Khan’s fate as the national team skipper, considering his personal contribution, performance and role as a leader.
Sports Minister Aftab Shah Jilani confirmed that he had given a go-ahead to the Board to decide the matter on merit and there would be no pressure whatsoever from the top. ”The PCB is free to handle Younis Khan’s issue and this I am saying after meeting with the top official here the other day.
Chicago, October 18: Vikram Buddhi, a former doctoral student at Purdue University, has been languishing in a US prison for the last 31 months on charges of threatening former president George W. Bush and other Republicans. He says he is innocent and has complained to his lawyer of being taunted and beaten by inmates in a Chicago jail.
Somnath Bharti, a New Delhi-based lawyer who is leading a campaign on Buddhi’s behalf, said 37-year-old Buddhi has pain in the eyes, an ear infection and rashes on his body.
Mumbai, October 18: Indian military officials ordered a United States airplane carrying 205 Marines to land at Mumbai airport on Sunday over an airspace clearance dispute.
“The Indian Air Force had to instruct the US plane to land as it did not have the mandatory clearance required to fly in Indian airspace,” Indian Air Force spokesman T.K. Singha told AFP.
The chartered plan was on its way from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to Bangkok when it was forced to land.
All passengers remained on board as US authorities applied for the missing paperwork, Singha said.
Khartoum, October 18: Two members of Irish aid agency GOAL kidnapped in Sudan’s conflict stricken Darfur region in July were freed early Sunday after more than 100 days in captivity, a Sudan minister told AFP.
“They are free, they are in good health,” said state humanitarian affairs minister Abdel Baqi Gilani.
Irish national Sharon Commins and Ugandan Hilda Kawuki were kidnapped in the North Darfur town of Kutum on July 3. They were taken by a gang of armed men from a compound run by GOAL.
Bangalore, October 18: Cape Cobras captain Andrew Puttick admitted that Herschelle Gibbs pulled out of the match against Victoria Bushrangers due to security fears and said the opener wasn’t mentally prepared to play in such an environment.
London, October 18: Kate Moss is invited to spend the New Year at her ex-boyfriend Johnny Depp’s island Little Hall’s Pond Cay in the Bahamas. The British model will go there along with her boyfriend Jamie Hince.
Depp will be there with his singer wife Vanessa Paradis and the four of them will be joining others for a winter escape to the “Pirates of Caribbean” star’s private 45-acre island which he bought in 2004 for more than 2 million pounds. One gets there on Depp’s 156ft steam-powered boat called Vajoliroja, reports thesun.co.uk.
Chennai, October 18: Actor Sudeep, who worked with director-producer Ram Gopal Varma in two of his films, will start shooting for the sequel of successful horror flick “Phoonk” in Mumbai later this month.
Sudeep played key roles in Varma’s “Phoonk” and “Rann” and had said he would be happy to work in a sequel to “Phoonk” which got him recognition as an actor. “Rann” is yet to be released, but Varma has already planned a sequel to “Phoonk” which he said would be more realistic and resemble Korean and Japanese thrillers.
New Delhi, October 18: A United Nations report has cautioned against going all out for bio-fuels to reduce the greenhouse gas emitting hydrocarbons, saying the process of production of bio-fuels could itself be a contributor to global warming.
Bangalore, October 18: Fifteen-year old Abishek hopes his bones will no longer break everytime he tries to chase a puppy down the street and trips.
The boy, studying in class 10, suffers from brittle bones, a genetic disorder that causes frequent fractures, and is waiting for a surgery that promises to make his bone strong.
Like him, eight-year-old Gururaj from Belgaum is waiting to know how it means to land your feet on the ground and walk straight. Born with club feet, he is waiting to take those first steps of his life without having to bend his thighs or knees.
New Delhi, October 18: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called on President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhavan and discussed several issues with her, including internal security and food security, the President’s secretariat said Sunday.
The meeting took place on Diwali Saturday. Both the leaders greeted each other on the occasion.
“They also discussed various issues of national and international importance, particularly internal security issues, agricultural production and food security,” the President’s secretariat said in a statement.
Mumbai, October 18: As Bollywood star couple Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri sashayed down the ramp together for the grand finale of the HDIL India Couture Week, they stole hearts with their chemistry.
This was the first time the star couple walked together on the ramp for their friend and filmmaker Karan Johar who in collaboration with designer Varun Bahl presented his men’s wear collection Friday.
Apart from them, Bollywood’s young brigade, Imran Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, also strutted down the ramp.
Sunderland, October 18: Instant notoriety is guaranteed for a young spectator who effectively condemned Liverpool to a 1-0 defeat against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
The ‘supporter’, who was wearing a dark blue top – the colour of Liverpool’s city rivals Everton – has been captured on YouTube throwing a beach ball into the Liverpool penalty area during a Sunderland attack.
He could not have imagined the consequences before a shot from Darren Bent struck the ball and diverted it past goalkeeper Pepe Reina for the decisive goal in Saturday’s match.
Ranchi, October 18: A top Maoist commander was killed in a gun battle with a rival outfit in Latehar district of Jharkhand, police said Sunday.
According to police, a gun battle between two Maoist groups – Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC) and Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) – took place in a jungle area near Bigrahganj village of Latehar district late Saturday night.
Pradeep Ganju, a top ranking Maoist commander of JPC, was killed in the gun battle that lasted nearly two hours.
Police reached the site, around 145 km from Ranchi, Sunday morning.
Ankara, October 18: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed Israel as a “persecutor” that has launched attacks against Gazan civilians.
“Turkey has never, in its history, been on the side of persecutors, it has always defended the oppressed,” Erdogan said without directly naming Israel in a speech in the central city of Kirsehir on Saturday.
“Turkey has not hostility against any country, but … we are against injustice,” AFP quoted Erdogan as saying.
Sao Paulo, October 18: Force India underlined its growing stature again, with Adrian Sutil holding his own in a dramatic wet qualifying session to bag the third place on the starting grid for the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.
His teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi had graduated through to the second qualifying session (Q2) but aquaplaned and speared off into the barriers into turn one.