Global warming could cause civil wars in Africa by 2030

TAFF WRITER 17:4 HRS IST

London, Nov 26 (PTI) With climate change affecting global food production and economic welfare, it is likely to increase the risk of conflict in African countries over the next 20 years, claims a US study.

The research led by Marshall Burke, a University of California economist, suggested that a one-degree rise in temperature could increase the risk of African civil war by 55 per cent by 2030.

This in turn would lead to 390,000 deaths in combat in sub-Saharan Africa, said the study, assuming future wars are as deadly as recent ones.

"Our study finds that climate change could increase the risk of African civil war by over 50 per cent in 2030 relative to 1990, with huge potential costs to human livelihoods," said Burke.

American becomes first woman to win Economics Nobel

STOCKHOLM:
STOCKHOLM: Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson of the United States won the 2009 Nobel Economics Prize on Monday for their work on the Elinor Ostrom organisation of cooperation in economic governance, the Nobel jury said.

Ostrom is the first woman to win the Economics Prize, which has been awarded since 1969.

"The research of Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson demonstrates that economic analysis can shed light on most forms of social organisation," the jury said.

Ostrom won half the 10-million-kronor (1.42-million-dollar, 980,000-euro) prize "for her analysis of economic governance" especially relating to the management of common property or property under common control.

Her work challenging the conventional wisdom that common property is poorly managed and should be either regulated by central authorities or privatised, it added.

A professor at Indiana University whose name has circulated as a possible winner in recent years, Ostrom told Swedish television her first reaction was "great surprise and appreciation," and said she was "in shock" over being the first woman to clinch the honour.

She conducted numerous studies of user-managed fish stocks, pastures, woods, lakes and groundwater basins, and concluded that the outcomes are "more often than not, better than predicted by standard theories," the jury said.

Williamson was honoured with the other half "for his analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm."

He has argued that hierarchical organisations such as firms represent alternative governance structures, which differ in their approaches to resolving conflicts of interest.

"A key prediction of Williamson's theory, which has also been supported empirically, is ... that the propensity of economic agents to conduct their transactions inside the boundaries of a firm increases along with the relationship-specific features of their assets," it said.

The Economics Prize is the only one of the six Nobel prizes not created in Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's 1896 will — it was created much later to celebrate the 1968 tricentary of the Swedish central bank and was first awarded in 1969.

Last year, the honour went to US economist Paul Krugman, a prolific New York Times columnist and fierce critic of Washington's economic policies, for his "analysis of trade patterns."

The Economics Prize wraps up the 2009 Nobel season.

Americans dominated the awards this year.

For the five Nobel prizes announced last week — for medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace — nine of the 11 laureates were US citizens, including US President Barack Obama who sensationally won the prestigious Peace Prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

The Literature Prize went to German writer Herta Mueller for her work inspired by her life under Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship in Romania.

This year was also a record year for women laureates, with four honoured: Herta Mueller for literature; Australian-American Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider of the United States were awarded the Nobel Medicine Prize; and Ada Yonath of Israel was one of three scientists recognised for her work in chemistry.

The Nobel prizes, founded by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, were first awarded in 1901.

Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, died childless in 1896, dedicating his vast fortune to create "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind."

Laureates receive a gold medal, a diploma and the prize sum at formal prize ceremonies held in Stockholm and Oslo on the anniversary of Nobel's death, December 10.

NKorea fires two short-range missiles: Official

SEOUL
SEOUL: North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles off its east coast Monday, a South Korean official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said the North had warned fishing boats to stay clear of parts of its coast from October 10-20.

TOI

World Muslim population is 1.57 billion: study

Washington,

Washington, Oct 8 (PTI) Muslim population across the globe stands at 1.57 billion which means nearly one in four people in the world practice Islam, according to a study which also says that India has the third-largest population of the community.

The study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life which covered more than 200 countries found that there are 1.57 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today, representing 23 per cent of an estimated 2009 world population of 6.8 billion.

"While Muslims are found on all five inhabited continents, more than 60 per cent of the global Muslim population is in Asia and about 20 per cent is in the Middle East and North Africa," the study said.

However, the Middle East-North Africa region has the highest percentage of Muslim-majority countries.

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan wins Chemistry Nobel

Prasun Sonwalkar

London, Oct 7 (PTI) Tamil Nadu-born Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, a senior scientist at the MRC Laborartory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge, has won the 2009 Nobel Prize for Chemistry along with two others, the Nobel Committee announced today.

Born in 1952 in Chidambaram, Ramakrishnan shares the Nobel prize with Thomas E Steitz (US) and Ada E Yonath (Israel) for their "studies of the structure and function of the ribosome".

Ramakrishnan earned his B.Sc. in Physics (1971) from Baroda University and his Ph.D. in Physics (1976) from Ohio University.

He moved into biology at the University of California, San Diego, where he took a year of classes, then conducted research with Dr Mauricio Montal, a membrane biochemist.

American Paul Krugman wins Nobel Prize in Economics

STOCKHOLM: US economist Paul Krugman, a fierce critic of George W. Bush's handling of the global financial crisis, won the 2008 Nobel Prize in

Krugman has taken the Bush administration to task over the current financial meltdown, blaming its pursuit of deregulation and unencumbered fiscal policies for the financial crisis that has threatened the global economy with recession.

He has come out forcefully against John McCain during the economic meltdown, saying the Republican candidate is ``more frightening now than he was a few weeks ago'' and earlier that the GOP has become ``the party of stupid.''

The 55-year-old Princeton University professor has worked intensely on the impact of free trade and globalisation, as well as the driving forces behind urbanisation, the Nobel citation said.

The financial turmoil that has sent shares crashing has cast a shadow over this year's prize and after his triumph, Krugman said he was "extremely terrified" by the crisis, Sweden's TT news agency reported.

"I'm happier about it now than I was five days ago. I was extremely happy with the European summit yesterday, so I'm feeling better today, but it's still terrifying," he added.

"I never thought I would see anything that looked like 1931 in my lifetime, but in many ways this crisis does," he added.

A number of experts had predicted the crisis would prompt the Nobel committee to shift its focus away from liberal market theories now under increased attack because of the credit crunch.

And by naming a critic of unfettered free market policies, the jury has decided to confront major, civilisation-changing issues.

In columns for the New York Times, Krugman has been a harsh critic of the Bush administration's policies.

He strongly opposed the initial wording of US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's 700-billion-dollar bank bailout plan - which he described as "financial Russian roulette" - although he conceded that a rescue was needed.

On Sunday, he wrote admiringly of Britain's rescue scheme, buying stakes in troubled banks and extending huge guarantees, asking whether "Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, (had) saved the world financial system."

"The Brown government has shown itself willing to think clearly about the financial crisis, and act quickly on its conclusions. And this combination of clarity and decisiveness hasn't been matched by any other Western government, least of all our own," he wrote.

While he has few kind words for the administration, which he has charged with engaging "in a game of deception" on Iraq and the economy, Krugman is even more sceptical of the Republican candidate in the current US election campaign John McCain.

In a recent column he stated that Democrat rival Barack Obama was "wrong to suggest that a McCain-Palin administration would just be a continuation of Bush-Cheney. If the way John McCain and Sarah Palin are campaigning is any indication, it would be much, much worse."

The Nobel committee hailed Krugman's economic approach "based on the premise that many goods and services can be produced more cheaply in long series, a concept generally known as economies of scale."

The theory shows that globalisation tends to increase pressure on urban living because specialisation sucks people into centres of concentration in which "regions become divided into a high-technology urbanised core and a less developed 'periphery'," the Nobel jury said.

Traditional trade theory assumes that differences between countries explain why some nations export agricultural products while others export industrial goods. Such a process holds out the prospect that some countries can improve their situations through complementarity.

But Krugman's "theory clarifies why worldwide trade is in fact dominated by countries which not only have similar conditions, but also trade in similar products," the Nobel jury wrote.

His theory helps to explain that globalisation tends towards concentration, both in terms of what a manufacturing base makes, and where it is located.

The Nobel committee has focused on an area of economic theory with deep implications for the understanding of how globalisation affects industries, populations, regions and the structure of trade, particularly in developing countries.

Krugman has written dozens of books and several hundred articles, primarily about international trade and global finance and was known as creating so-called "new economic geography."

In 1991, he received the 1991 John Bates Clark Medal, an award given every two years by the American Economic Association to an economist under 40.

He will receive his Nobel gold medal and diploma along with 10 million Swedish kronor (1.42 million dollars, 1.02 million euros) at a formal prize ceremony in Stockholm on December 10.

Speaking to Swedish public television immediately after the announcement, Krugman said the award "obviously will seriously warp my next few days."

"I hope that two weeks from now, I'm back to being pretty much the same person I was before," he said. "I'm a great believer in continuing to do work. I hope it doesn't change things too much."

TOI

3 Americans share 2009 Nobel medicine prize

STOCKHOLM:
STOCKHOLM: Americans Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W Greider and Jack W. Szostak won the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discovering a

key mechanism in the genetic operations of cells, an insight that has inspired new lines of research into cancer.

The trio solved the mystery of how chromosomes, the rod-like structures that carry DNA, protect themselves from degrading when cells divide.

The Nobel citation said the laureates found the solution in the ends of the chromosomes _ structures called telomeres that are often compared to the plastic tips at the end of shoe laces that keep those laces from unraveling.

Blackburn and Greider discovered the enzyme that builds telomeres _ telomerase _ and the mechanism by which it adds DNA to the tips of chromosomes to replace genetic material that has eroded away.

The prize-winners' work set the stage for research suggesting that cancer cells use telomerase to sustain their uncontrolled growth. Scientists are studying whether drugs that block the enzyme can fight the disease. In addition, scientists believe that the DNA erosion the enzyme repairs might play a role in some illnesses.

``The discoveries by Blackburn, Greider and Szostak have added a new dimension to our understanding of the cell, shed light on disease mechanisms, and stimulated the development of potential new therapies,'' the prize committee said in its citation.

It was the first time that two women have been among the winners of the medicine prize, committee members said.

Blackburn, who holds US and Australian citizenship, is a professor of biology and physiology at the University of California, San Francisco. Greider is a professor in the department of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Greider, 48, said she was telephoned by just before 5 a.m. her time with the news that she had won.

``It's really very thrilling, it's something you can't expect,'' she told The Associated Press by telephone.

People might make predictions of who might win, but one never expects it, she said, adding that ``It's like the Monty Python sketch, 'Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!'''

Greider described the research as beginning with experiments aimed at understanding how cells work, not with the idea for certain implications for medicine.

``Funding for that kind of curiosity-driven science is really important,'' she said, adding that disease-oriented research isn't the only way to reach the answer, but ``both together are synergistic,'' she said.

Blackburn, 60, said she was awakened at 2 a.m. ``Prizes are always a nice thing,'' she told The AP. ``It doesn't change the research per se, of course, but it's lovely to have the recognition and share it with Carol Greider and Jack Szostak.''

London-born Szostak has been at Harvard Medical School since 1979 and is currently professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is also affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the citation said.

The award includes a 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) purse divided among the winners, a diploma and an invitation to the prize ceremonies in Stockholm on Dec. 10.

The researchers have already won a series of medical honors for their enzyme research. In 2006, they shared the Lasker prize for basic medical research, often dubbed ``America's Nobel.''

Some inherited diseases are now known to be caused by telomerase defects, including certain forms of congenital aplastic anemia, in which insufficient cell divisions in the stem cells of the bone marrow lead to severe anemia. Certain inherited diseases of the skin and the lungs are also caused by telomerase defects.

The Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, literature and the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced later this week, while the economics award will be presented on Oct. 12.

Prize founder Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist who invented dynamite, left few instructions on how to select winners, but medicine winners are typically awarded for a specific breakthrough rather than a body of research.

Nobel established the prizes in his will in 1895. The first awards were handed out six years later.

TOI

Two NATO soldiers reported killed in Afghanistan

STAFF WRITER 16:48 HRS IST

Kabul, Oct 5 (AP) Two more NATO soldiers, including one American, are reported dead in the latest fighting in Afghanistan.

A NATO statement says the US soldier died of wounds suffered in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan yesterday.

The statement says a second service member died of wounds in a roadside bombing today in southern Afghanistan. NATO is not releasing the service member's nationality.

The latest deaths follow an attack two days ago against a pair of remote outposts in Nuristan province. Eight US soldiers were killed in the Saturday attack, which was the deadliest against US forces in Afghanistan in more than a year.

Philippine floods death toll rises to 277: govt

STAFF WRITER 9:2 HRS IST

Manila, Oct 1 (AFP) The death toll in the Philippines from flooding unleashed by tropical storm Ketsana has risen by more than 30 to 277, the government said today.

Aside from the 277 people confirmed killed, 42 people remain missing, the National Disaster Coordination Council said.

Tropical storm Ketsana dumped the heaviest rains in more than 40 years on Manila and neighbouring parts of Luzon island on Saturday.

The number of people affected by the storm has climbed to 2.5 million people, the council said, up nearly 300,000 from the previous day's estimate.

US Senate passes bill to triple aid to Pakistan

Lalit K Jha and Betwa Sharma

Pittsburgh/New York, Sep 25 (PTI) The US Senate today unanimously passed the revised version of the Kerry-Lugar bill which triples non-military aid to Pakistan to USD 1.5 billion per annum, pledging America's long term commitment to its key ally against extremism.

An identical version of the bill was introduced in the House of Representatives and is expected to be passed any time now. The announcement in this regard was made by US President Barack Obama during his address to a meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan at the UN headquarters in New York.

"For the first time in modern era the US congress has made a multi-year commitment to Pakistan," Richard Holbrooke, Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in New York.

Pakistan has already received a billion dollars pledged in Tokyo and 330 million dollars raised to support the country's refugees.

Nirupama Rao meets William Burns in Washington

STAFF WRITER 6:44 HRS IST

Washington, Sept 22 (PTI) Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao met with her US counterpart William Burns and discussed a wide range of bilateral issues, including counter-terrorism and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's proposed visit to America in November.

Rao, who arrived here from New York late Sunday, had detailed discussion with Burns, the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, yesterday.

The two diplomats reviewed the Indo-US dialogue architecture after the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to India in July and preparation for the State visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November, sources told PTI.

Rao visited Washington at the invitation of Burns. The special invitation to visit Washington at a time when the entire Obama Administration is in New York is seen as a "special gesture" from the US State Department.

Car bomb kills at least 10 in Kabul

Car bomb kills at least 10 in Kabul
KABUL: A suicide car bomb hit vehicles carrying foreign troops near the US Embassy and an American military base in Afghanistan's capital on Thursday, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens, officials said.

The suicide bomber rammed his explosives-filled car into two vehicles of the NATO-backed international force, said Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, head of Kabul's criminal investigations unit.

The blast occurred shortly after noon and smoke could be seen rising from the site soon after. An Associated Press reporter saw two bodies on the ground, both burned and later covered with plastic sheets.

At least six vehicles were burned, including at least one Humvee with an Italian flag painted on the side. Sirens rang through the area as emergency vehicles arrived.

In Rome, the Italian Defense Ministry said at least six people had died in the attack, but the number of Italians was unclear.

Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said at least 10 Afghan civilians were killed and 52 wounded. Sayedzada said foreign forces also were killed but he did not know how many.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying in a text message that an insurgent had carried out a suicide attack against foreign forces.

US military spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said they were aware of the blast but did not have more information. NATO forces also said they did not have further information.

The explosion was the fourth major attack in the capital in five weeks.

On Sept. 8, a car bomb exploded near the entrance to the military airport in Kabul in an apparent attack on a NATO convoy that killed three civilians. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

TOI

Mohammed second most common boys' name in UK

Mohammed

LONDON: Mohammed, in all its various spellings, is now the second most common boys' name in the UK, next only to Jack.

Jack and Olivia were the most popular names for babies last year - but the Office for National Statistics was accused of being "disingenuous" for listing various forms of Mohammed as different names.

Three variations of Mohammed originally featured in the list of the top 100 names released by the ONS, but none of them made the top ten.

Mohammed was placed 16th with 3,423, Muhammad 37th with 2,068 and Mohammad 65th with 1,100.

Figures for five other spellings - Muhammad (496), Mohamed (428), Mohamad (40), and Mohammod (10), were later released.

That made a total of 7,576 and put Mohammed and its alternatives ahead of the official second placed name, Oliver, of whom there were 7,413.

There were 8,007 Jacks, ensuring the name topped the list of boys' names for the 13th year running.

"When we have done our research, mothers tell us Jack suggests honesty, trustworthiness and hard work. A Jack will be popular and have a strong character, but he will also be good," said Faye Mingo, who compiles the research on names for Bounty.com, a parenting club.

Olivia was top name for girls in 2008, replacing Ruby.

TOI

Michael Jackson set to be 2010's highest earning star

Michael Jackson set to be 2010's highest earning star

LONDON: Even after his death, Michael Jackson has proved that he is still the 'King of Pop' as the pop icon is set to become the highest earning
celebrity of 2010.

The experts are predicting that the 'Thriller' hitmaker will bring in an estimated $240 million in revenue this year, Contactmusic reported.

The 'Black or White' hitmaker's music shot back into the charts following his sudden death in June due to a drug overdose.

Moreover, the executors of his estate are planning to launch an official range of merchandise as well as a touring exhibit of the star's memorabilia.

AEG, the company behind Jackson's comeback concerts is set to release a movie featuring rehearsal footage of his 'This Is It' tour.

The ventures are tipped to make Jackson the highest earning celebrity in 2010, ahead of Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, Lady Gaga and Harry Potter actors Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe.

Also featuring in the top ten is British super couple David and Victoria Beckham, Formula 1 racer Lewis Hamilton, 'Twilight' star Robert Pattinson, Rock 'n' Roll legend Elvis Presley and pop princess Britney Spears, according to a survey of licensing and merchandising experts across Europe.

TOI

Obama says he would like to have dinner with Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi,

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has said given a chance he would like to have dinner with Mahatma Gandhi, whom he considered a real hero.

Obama expressed his desire in response to a question from a student Lilly during his discussion with 9th graders at Wakefield High School in Arlington Virginia where he, accompanied with the Education Secretary, gave a national speech welcoming students back to school. ( Watch Video )

Obama called for students to take responsibility and to learn from their failures so that they succeed in the end.

"Hi. I'm Lilly. And if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be," Obama was asked by one of the students.

"Dinner with anyone dead or alive? Well, you know, dead or alive, that's a pretty big list," Obama responded amidst laughter. The next moment he was serious.

"You know, I think that it might be Gandhi, who is a real hero of mine," Obama said. "Now, it would probably be a really small meal because he didn't eat a lot," he said amidst laughter. But Mahatma Gandhi is someone who has inspired people across the world for the past several generations, he said.

Terming the iconic figure as the source of inspiration for many, Obama said "he (Mahatma Gandhi) is somebody whom I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr King (Martin Luther), so if it hadn't been for the non-violent movement in India, you might not have seen the same non-violent movement for civil rights here in the United States."

"What was interesting was that he ended up doing so much and changing the world just by the power of his ethics, by his ability to change how people saw each other and saw themselves -- and help people who thought they had no power realise that they had power, and then help people who had a lot of power realise that if all they're doing is oppressing people, then that's not a really good exercise of power," Obama said.

Expressing his belief in the way of change proposed by Gandhi, the President said, "I am always interested in people who are able to bring about change, not through violence, not through money, but through the force of their personality and their ethical and moral stances. That is somebody that I would love to sit down and talk to," said Obama.

Mahatma Gandhi has always been a source of inspiration for this first African-American President of the United States of America.

"In my life, I have always looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodies the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things," he wrote in the ethnic India Abroad newspaper last year.

"That is why his portrait hangs in my Senate office; to remind me that real results will not just come from Washington, they will come from the people," Obama said.

TOI

For US Iraq war would end in 2011: Obama

WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON: For America, the war in Iraq would end in 2011 when it would pull out all its troops from the country, US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday.

"We will remove all our troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. For America, the Iraq war will end," Obama said in his address to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. The United States will begin removing its combat brigades from Iraq later this year.

"In Iraq, after more than six years, we took an important step forward in June. We transferred control of all cities and towns to Iraq's security forces," he said.

"The transition to full Iraqi responsibility for their own security is now underway. This progress is a testament to all those who have served in Iraq, both uniformed and civilian. And our nation owes these Americans -- and all who have given their lives -- a profound debt of gratitude," he said, amidst applause.

The US President said, "Now, as Iraqis take control of their destiny, they will be tested and targeted. Those who seek to sow sectarian division will attempt more senseless bombings and more killing of innocents."

"As we move forward, the Iraqi people must know that the US will keep its commitments. The American people must know that we will move forward with our strategy," Obama said.

By moving forward in Iraq, the US is able to refocus on the war against al Qaeda and its extremist allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he asserted.

TOI

Hakimullah Mehsud calls media, says he is alive

ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD: Two days after reports emerged that he had been killed in a shootout with a rival, Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud on Monday contacted media organisations to say that he was "alive".

Hakimullah, one of several top Taliban commanders considered as contenders for leading the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan following the reported death of Baitullah Mehsud, telephoned Pakistani and foreign media organisations to deny reports of his death in fighting with rival Wali-ur-Rehman.

Talking to Geo News channel, Hakimullah said no scuffle had occurred between him and Rehman. He said he was "safe, hale and hearty".

He also claimed that Baitullah was alive despite the contention of the Pakistan and US governments that they are now certain the Taliban chief was killed in a Predator drone attack in South Waziristan on August 5.

Hakimullah said if Interior Minister Rehman Malik could not present any evidence regarding the killing of Baitullah, he would "table proofs to deny the reports regarding his death".

He said the Pakistani Taliban remained united despite the government's claims that there was infighting among militant factions.

TOI

Myanmar's Suu Kyi gets 18 months under house arrest

YANGON

YANGON: Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was on Tuesday ordered to stay under house arrest for 18 months after a prison court convicted the Nobel laureate at the end of her internationally condemned trial.

The court at Yangon's Insein jail sentenced her to three years imprisonment and hard labour for breaching the terms of her house arrest following an incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside residence in May.

The head of the ruling junta signed a special order commuting the sentence and allowing the frail 64-year-old to serve out just a year and half under house arrest, home affairs minister General Maung Oo said outside the court.

The ruling means that she will still be in detention during multi-party elections promised by the iron-fisted military regime next year. Her party won a landslide victory in the country's last democratic polls.

American John Yettaw, 54, the man who swam to her house, was sentenced to a total of seven years hard labour and imprisonment on three separate charges but it was not clear if the terms would run consecutively or concurrently.

Security forces sealed off the area around the notorious jail and the ruling junta allowed diplomats from all foreign embassies in Yangon and local journalists to attend the hearing, officials and witnesses said.

Suu Kyi has already been in detention for 14 of the past 20 years since Myanmar's ruling military junta refused to recognise her National League for Democracy's landslide victory in elections in 1990.

It was not clear whether she would serve the new period in detention at her crumbling lakeside villa or at another location.

State-run newspapers carried a commentary on Tuesday that warned Suu Kyi's supporters not to cause trouble and told foreign countries not to meddle in Myanmar's affairs.

"The people who favour democracy do not want to see riots and protests that can harm their goal," said the version in the government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar.

"Nevertheless, some persons who do not want national interest are resorting to a variety of means to disrupt the national goal, taking full advantage of the trial against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi."

Critics had accused the junta of using the charges as an excuse to keep her locked up for the elections due in 2010, particularly as they were lodged just days before the latest period of her house arrest was due to expire.

The military has ruled the impoverished nation with an iron fist since 1962.

Her lawyers argued during the trial that she could not be held responsible for Yettaw's actions, and that the legal framework for her initial detention at her house was under a 1975 law that has been superseded by later constitutions.

Suu Kyi told the court that she did not report the American to the authorities for humanitarian reasons. The junta says she gave food, shelter and assistance to Yettaw, who has diabetes.

Yettaw, a Mormon whose teenage son died two years ago in a motorbike crash, had testified that he swam to her house after receiving a "message from God" that he must protect Suu Kyi against a terrorist plot to assassinate her.

Yettaw got three years for breaching security laws, three years for immigration violations and one year for a municipal charge of illegal swimming.

The case has drawn international outrage at Myanmar's military regime, which is already under stiff US and European Union sanctions. Diplomats said that the EU was set to impose further restrictions in the case of a guilty verdict.

But the reclusive Than Shwe has resisted all calls for Suu Kyi's release, and he snubbed UN chief Ban Ki-moon's requests to visit the opposition leader in jail when Ban visited Myanmar in July.

Ban is set to meet a 14-nation advisory group on Myanmar that includes the United States, Britain, Russia and China next month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Democratic US Senator Jim Webb is due to visit Myanmar later this month -- the first US lawmaker to visit the country in more than 10 years.

TOI

Bhutan to step up vigil at its border with India

Thimphu,

Thimphu, Aug 6 (PTI) Bhutan has dismissed the reports of presence of permanent camps of the Indian militant groups on its territory but said it can't rule out occasional incursions by the terrorists in the country.

"There are unconfirmed reports of ULFA training camps along the Indo-Bhutan border but not within Bhutan," said Joint Secretary of Law and Order Bureau Karma T Namgyal, who was part of the Bhutanese delegation that held parleys with an Indian team at the Seventh Border Coordination Development Meeting here.

The Indian officials said ULFA and NDFB militants, based in Assam, are regrouping and may try to enter Bhutan to set up camps.

"We were told that these groups are regrouping and planning to come back. We need to be more vigilant.

"...there are no permanent camps in Bhutan, but we can't rule out occasional temporary incursions," Namgyal said.

2 women vie for Afghan presidency

Kabu

Kabul, Aug 6 (AP) In a country where most women leave home only under the cover of a burqa, Shahla Atta wears bright pink nail polish, highlights her eyes with glitter and wants to be Afghanistan's next president.

Atta, 42, is one of two women among more than 30 candidates vying for the presidency, an uphill and even dangerous undertaking. Neither has much chance of unseating President Hamid Karzai in the August 20 vote. But just the fact that they are running open campaigns, plastering photos of their uncovered faces around Kabul, is an accomplishment in itself.

Many Afghans, especially in rural areas, believe that a woman should not show her face to non-family members.

"It is difficult for a woman even to invite some people over for tea and tell them about her ideas," said Shinkai Kharokhel, a female lawmaker in Kabul

Hiroshima calls for nuke-free world by 2020

Hiroshima

Hiroshima, Aug 6 (AFP) The Japanese city of Hiroshima today marked the 64th anniversary of the world's first atomic attack as its mayor called for the total abolition of nuclear weapons in the coming decade.

Some 50,000 people, including atomic bomb survivors as well as Prime Minister Taro Aso and representatives from more than 50 nations, gathered at a memorial to the dead.

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba praised US President Barack Obama for his anti-nuclear views as he delivered a speech at the memorial, within sight of the A-bomb dome, a former exhibition hall burned to a skeleton by the bomb's intense heat.

The mayor noted Obama said in an address that as the only nuclear power to have used an atomic weapon, the United States has "a moral responsibility to act" to realise a nuclear-free world.

Pashupatinath temple to appoint two Indian priests

p
p

KATHMANDU: With the dispute over appointment of priests still "pending" in the Supreme Court, authorities of Nepal's Pashupatinath temple is planning to recruit two Indian pundits following the country's old tradition.

"We have felt the need to appoint two new priests very soon as regular worshipping has become difficult to manage due to lack of hands," Treasurer of the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), Narottam Vaidya said.

The case relating to the new regulation for appointing priests is "pending in the Supreme Court, and the current arrangement is temporary". It will be done following the old tradition of taking in Indian priests, he added.

A case was filed in the apex court challenging the decision of the previous executive board of the PADT that formulated regulation allowing non-Indian and local people to qualify as priests.

Pashupatinath temple, an important place of worship in Nepal has been facing worker-crisis ever since two Indian priests Krishna Bhatta and Ramchandra Bhatta resigned, reportedly under pressure of Maoists-led government, which appointed two Nepalese priests in their place.

TOI

Aung San Suu Kyi's trial to resume in Myanmar

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YANGON (Myanmar): Lawyers for Myanmar's jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi are scheduled to present final arguments on Friday in their Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man. (AFP Photo)

efforts to save her from a possible five-year prison term.

Suu Kyi, 64, is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who swam to her lakeside home and stayed for two days. She is being detained at Myanmar's notorious Insein Prison.

Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi's defense lawyers, said the legal team met with her Thursday to finalize their 23-page closing argument, which will be presented when the widely criticized proceedings resume Friday afternoon.

``We are very optimistic because our arguments are based on solid legal points,'' Suu Kyi's main lawyer Kyi Win said. ``We have the law on our side, but we don't know if the judges are on our side.''

The defense has not contested the basic facts of the case but argues the relevant law has been misapplied by the authorities. They also assert that the security guards who ensure Suu Kyi remains inside her compound should also be held responsible for any intrusion on her property.

Diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and Italy who had earlier requested access will be allowed into the courtroom for Friday's session, a diplomat said on condition of anonymity citing protocol. It will be the third time during the mostly closed-door trial that such access has been granted.

The resumption of the trial came as US, European and Asian officials - including the top diplomat from Myanmar - wound up a conference Thursday in neighboring Thailand that put Myanmar's human rights record in the spotlight.

The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her behind bars through elections planned for next year. The verdict is expected sometime next month, and Suu Kyi faces up to five years in prison.

Also on trial, and facing the same charges as Suu Kyi, are two female members of her party who were her sole companions under house arrest. The American, John Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, is charged with trespassing.

The trial started May 18. The court had approved 23 prosecution witnesses, of which 14 took the stand. Only two out of four defense witnesses were allowed to testify.

Yettaw has pleaded not guilty and explained in court that he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had gone to warn her.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962.

Suu Kyi's opposition party won national elections in 1990, but Myanmar's generals refused to relinquish power. Suu Kyi, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, was under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years.

Soruce:TOI

All parties equally responsible for Nepal crisis: UN

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UNITED NATIONS: All sides are to be blamed equally for the stagnation in the current peace process in Nepal, a top UN official today said and hoped the leaders of political parties will rise above their differences to resolve the crisis.

Addressing a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, Karin Landgren, the UN representative in Nepal, said no one particular party bore the blame for sluggish progress of the peace process since all parties had entered into the process and had been carried along so far through "repeated agreements, consensus and compromise".

Over the last few months, all sides had taken actions that had caused the process to slow down, she said.

However, Landgren hoped that party leaders would rise above their differences and work together pragmatically, through consensus and dialogue to advance the process, as they had done in the past.

The political leaders of the country are in active discussions about the steps and structures, which could restore significant momentum to the process. There is also a need for regular dialogue among them to improve the political environment, she said.

Welcoming the decision of the Security Council to extend the UN's mission in Nepal by another six months, Landgren said the action had come at a time when the peace process had stagnated to a degree.

In light of its unanimous support, the government and all parties would take the peace process forward in the period ahead, thereby creating the conditions for the Mission to conclude its mandated tasks in support of Nepal's nationally driven peace process, she hoped.

Landgren said the Security Council resolution passed today sent an important message of support and encouragement to the government and parties in respect of several recent decisions, as well as the ongoing work by the Constituent Assembly on preparing a new Constitution.

The Council in its resolution welcomed the recent decisions by the Government and the Unified CPN-Maoist formally to begin the discharge and rehabilitation of the 4,008 Maoist army personnel disqualified by the verification process.

It also welcomed the action plan which the government had committed to prepare for that purpose, and for beginning the integration and rehabilitation of the 19,602 verified Maoist army personnel.

Noting that the integration and rehabilitation of former combatants were crucial in any peace process, Landgren said the Security Council had also called on the government and political parties to ensure the early reconstitution of the Special Committee responsible for supervising, integrating and rehabilitating the Maoist army personnel, drawing support from its Technical Committee.

"Critical political decisions need to be taken soon on the modalities and the number of Maoist army personnel to be integrated in the security forces," she said, adding that determining the future of the Maoist personnel was critical to building a lasting peace.

Asked how trust and confidence -- two necessary ingredients for moving the peace process forward -- would be restored in view of all the actions that tended to undermine it, she said the parties themselves had put two extremely important proposals on the table.

One called for a high-level political consultative mechanism, which would involve the leaders of the main parties and be dedicated to the key issues of the peace process and moving it forward.

"What we would also encourage them to do is put the underpinnings for a mechanism like that in place to make sure that fresh commitments are then implemented and followed up," Landgren said.

She said the second proposal, which had been echoed by all the main leaders, was that a Government of national unity or consensus was not only necessary, but probably inevitable.

However, the leaders acknowledged that such a proposal would take some time to achieve, and that the question of who would lead it could be expected to require "significant further discussion". Nevertheless, it was an encouraging concept for moving the peace process forward, she said.

TOI

Nearly 65000 deserters in Sri Lankan Army

Colombo, Jul 16 (PTI) The Sri Lankan army is grappling with the problem of 'deserters' with the number swelling to around 65,000, while 2,000 are in different prison.

There are around 65,000 army deserters at large while 2,000 are in prison, Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms Suhada Gamlath said.

Once an army deserter is captured he is produced for a Court Martial and usually sentenced to an imprisonment not exceeding one year.

Since the Defence Ministry had stepped up arresting those who deserted the service the Prisons Department will definitely face a problem of space, Gamlath told reporters.

The young secretary, however, favours a separate cell for the deserters saying they should not be equated with the criminals.

Gamlath said there was a need for having a separate detention centre for the 2,000 army deserters who are now being held at various prisons across the country.

At least 200 stage fresh protest in China's Urumqi

URUMQI, China: At least 200 people staged a fresh protest in China's Urumqi city in front of foreign reporters on Tuesday to demand the release of
detained relatives, two days after deadly riots here.

The relatives, all Uighurs, approached the reporters in the capital of Xinjiang with their fists in the air, tears rolling down their faces, and then engaged in a tense standoff with police, a reporter said.

"I'm here to demand my husband be returned," said one woman who gave her name as Maliya, as she held the hand of her crying seven-year-old son.

She said police burst into their house on Monday and took her husband away.

Maliya insisted her husband took no part in Sunday's unrest.

"We were at home when it happened," she said.

The protesters, mostly women and children, were emboldened by the presence of six bus-loads of foreign reporters on a government-sponsored trip to Urumqi after riots on Sunday left at least 156 people dead and over 1,000 injured.

"Film this," one protester said, while others made signs to mimic the action of taking a photo.

Hundreds of police armed with machine guns, shotguns and batons surrounded the protesters, who refused to move. The demonstration started at about 11:00 am (0300 GMT) and by 11:40 the standoff was continuing.

The police had also brought in German Shepherd dogs.

The unrest on Sunday saw Muslim Uighurs, who have long complained about repression under Chinese rule, take to the streets.

Chinese authorities have accused exiled Uighur leaders of orchestrating the unrest, and state television has shown footage of Uighurs attacking people in the streets, turning over police cars and smashing shops.

But exiled Uighur leaders have said Chinese security forces overreacted to peaceful protests and fired indiscriminately.

Source:TOI

UN Security Council condemns latest missile test by NKorea

Washington, Jul 7 (PTI) The UN Security Council has condemned the ballistic missile tests conducted by North Korea over the weekend, and said by doing it Korea not only violated its resolutions but also threatened regional and international security.

The UN Security Council President for the month of July, Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda of Uganda, reading from a statement after the meeting told reporters that the 15-member body "expressed grave concerns" following the reported missile tests by North Korea on July 4.

Rugunda said Council members, which held consultations on the issue this afternoon reiterated that North Korea must comply with their obligations under all resolutions, including resolution 1874, which was adopted unanimously last month in response to a recent nuclear test by Pyongyang.

PTI

Mennonites protest church exclusion of gays

By MEGHAN BARR – 2 days ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In a quiet act of defiance, gay and lesbian Mennonites dressed in bright pink gathered outside the church's official convention in Columbus on Thursday and criticized its leaders for trying to push them out.

About 100 ministers and church members prayed, sang religious hymns and told stories of feeling ostracized growing up in the Mennonite church, which does not recognize openly gay people as official members. The "pink Menno" protest brought the deeply divisive issue to the forefront of the Mennonite Church USA conference, a biannual, national gathering of about 8,000 delegates.

Twenty-seven-year-old Katie Hochstedler, who grew up in Kalona, Iowa, declared herself "a young queer Mennonite."

"I've had to ask myself: Can I continue to participate in a church that's soul is so damaged that it does not follow its own stated values?" Hochstedler said.

With about 110,000 members, Mennonite Church USA represents the largest and most mainstream group of Mennonites in the U.S., most of whom do not shun technology or wear traditional clothing like the more conservative branches of the church. But many progressive Mennonites have relatives who are part of the Old Order, and some women still wear head coverings.

The Mennonite religion is rooted in a 16th-century movement in Europe known as Anabaptism, which coincided with the Protestant Reformation and called for adults to be baptized before joining the church. The Mennonites took their name from Menno Simons, a Dutch Catholic priest who broke away from his church in 1536.

The gay rights movement among Mennonites, which for years lacked a visible presence within the church, gained steam several months ago when nearly 1,400 ministers signed a letter calling on the church to allow homosexual members to worship with everyone else.

The definition of what's acceptable and what's not is murky at best. In some congregations, gay Mennonites are welcome as long as they remain celibate. In others, they are shunned.

Congregations are disciplined — and, in rarer cases, kicked out altogether — for allowing non-celibate gay members to worship with them. Pastors who perform civil unions for gay couples run the risk of losing their ordination.

The issue is complicated by the various regional conferences, which are split on how to treat congregations that decide to be inclusive, said church spokeswoman Kerry Strayer.

Rev. Cynthia Lapp, pastor of a Mennonite church in Hyattsville, Md., said her congregation lost its voting rights within the denomination for welcoming gay worshippers in 2005. She declined to say whether they might face expulsion.

"I was astounded when I talked with a mother who said she was grateful that her gay son and his partner left the church," Lapp told those gathered at the protest. "It was too painful to have him stay and be rejected."

Kristin Sampson, 32, leads a youth group at the Hyattsville church with her lesbian partner, 37-year-old Becca Walawender.

"We heard there were some groups that were like, 'is it safe to bring our kids to the convention if the pink Mennos are there?'" she said. "They don't understand."

Inside the convention center in downtown Columbus, there was an unofficial moratorium on discussing homosexuality because the subject had stirred up such heated debate at previous meetings.

"I would love to talk about it without a lot of fire and sparks," said Naomi Engle, pastor of a Mennonite church in Wauseon, Ohio, who said she agrees with church doctrine that states marriage should be between a man and a woman.

While church leaders did not attend the protest, Strayer said the growing clamor over gay rights is likely to reopen the dialogue soon.

"There's still quite a bit of division across the church on this issue," Strayer said. "And I guess, with the campaign itself, there's some concern that it will only widen the division."

Hochstedler, 27, said it was a shock to her family when she came out in college, but they have since grown into advocates for gay rights. In the small Mennonite church where she grew up, there's a lingering sense of unease about her sexuality.

"I would say people are kind and warm," she said. "But nobody talks about it."

On the Net:

• http://www.mennoniteusa.org/

North Korea 'test-fires 6 missiles off east coast'

SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea fired six ballistic missiles off its eastern coast on Saturday, South Korea said, a violation of UN resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the United States on its Independence Day.

The launches, which came two days after North Korea fired four short-range cruise missiles, will likely further escalate tensions in the region as the US tries to muster support for tough enforcement of the UN resolution imposed on the communist regime for its May nuclear test.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said three missiles were fired early Saturday, a fourth around noon and two more in the afternoon.

The defence ministry said that the missiles were ballistic and are believed to have flown more than 250 miles (400 km).

"Our military is fully ready to counter any North Korean threats and provocations based on strong South Korea-US combined defence posture," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted military officials as saying the missiles appeared to be a type of Scud missile. North Korea's Scuds are considered short-range, the South's military said.

North Korea is not allowed to fire Scuds, medium-range missiles or long-range missiles under a resolution that bans any launch using ballistic missile technology. Thursday's launches, on the other hand, did not violate the resolution as they were cruise missiles rather than ballistic, according to South Korea's Foreign Ministry.

Ballistic missiles are guided during their ascent out of the atmosphere but fall freely when they descend. Cruise missiles are fired straight at a target.

The North has a record of timing missile tests for the US national day, which fell on Saturday.

"The missiles were seen as part of military exercises, but North Korea also appeared to have sent a message to the US through the missile launches," a senior official in South Korea's presidential said, without elaborating.

The official said that North Korea could fire more missiles in coming days, but said there was little possibility it could fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, as it threatened in April.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

North Korea's state news agency carried no reports on the launches. But the North had warned ships to stay away from its east coast through July 10 for military exercises, an indication it was planning launches.

The chief of US naval operations, Adm Gary Roughead, said on Saturday the American military was ready for any North Korean missile tests.

"Our ships and forces here are prepared for the tracking of the missiles and observing the activities that are going on," Roughead said after meeting Japanese military officials in Tokyo before the news of the launches.

South Korea and Japan, which are within easy range of North Korean missiles, condemned the launches as a "provocative" act that violates the UN resolution.

South Korea "expressed deep regret over the North's continuous behaviour that escalates tensions in Northeast Asia by repeatedly defying" the resolution, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said in a statement that the launch of missiles "is a serious act of provocation against the security of neighbouring countries, including Japan, and is against the resolution of the UN Security Council."

In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesman said he had no immediate comment. China is the North's closest ally.

During the US Independence Day holiday in 2006, Pyongyang fired a barrage of missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 that broke apart and fell into the ocean less than a minute after lift-off. Those launches also came amid tensions with the US over North Korea's nuclear programme.

A long-range missile launch by North Korea toward the United States would further flout the UN sanctions resolution punishing Pyongyang for its May 25 nuclear test. The US last month said it had positioned more missile defences around Hawaii as a precaution.

But spy satellites have apparently not detected any of the preparations that would normally precede such a launch.

The North wants to show Washington that it is not yielding to pressure, and the regime is likely to save a long-range launch for later, Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University and an expert on the country, said Friday.

Soruce:TOI

Developing countries need N-tech: S Africa

Durban, Jul 4 (PTI) South Africa has underlined the need for global nuclear disarmament, even as it said that developing countries should not be denied access to advanced technology "needed for their development".

"We should be vigilant that in advancing the peaceful applications of nuclear energy this is not based on the premise of denying developing countries access to advanced technologies needed for their own development," said Abdul Minty, country's Governor to the Board of the IAEA.

Minty had contested for the position of Director General of the the IAEA as South Africa's candidate. The IAEA Board of Governors selected Yukio Amano of Japan as the Agency's next Director-General, who succeeds Mohamed ElBaradei.

Minti described the IAEA was the most valuable asset in promoting nuclear disarmament.

"We have in the past experienced the role the Agency played in relation to issues that impacted on the peaceful resolution of disputes.

G-8 for expanding invt in renewable energy field

Tokyo, Jul 3 (PTI) Leaders of the G-8 industrialised countries will unveil policies and expand investment in the renewable energy sectors to help solve both energy security and climate change issues, a draft statement shows.

The pledge will be contained in the leaders' statement on energy security to be adopted at the G-8 summit to be held in the central Italian city of L'Aquila from July 8 to 10.

"Fostering investment in energy infrastructure, energy efficiency, diversification of the energy mix and technological innovation is key to granting secure, clean and affordable energy to long-term world needs, while substantially curbing carbon emissions," says the document, a copy of which was obtained by Kyodo News.

SKorea to build up defences against nuclear-armed North

Seoul, July 3 (AFP) South Korea will spend tens of millions of USD to build up defences against any North Korean nuclear attack, the defence ministry said today.

North Korea has vowed to build more nuclear bombs in response to a UN resolution which imposed sanctions for its May 25 nuclear test, the second since 2006.

The South will spend up to 100 million won (78 million USD) over the next five years to protect key facilities against electromagnetic pulse (EMP) waves from high-altitude nuclear explosions.

Such waves used as a prelude to an all-out attack could shut down electronic equipment including weapons systems within tens or even hundreds of kilometres.

"The spending will not be higher than 100 billion won," Brigadier General Jang Gi-Yoon told journalists. He declined to give details on where such anti-EMP facilities will be built.

USD 6.6 bn committed to fight poverty in S Asia: WB

Washington, July 3 (PTI) The World Bank has committed a whopping USD 6.6 billion in fiscal year 2009 to fight poverty in South Asia, home to one of the largest concentration of people below poverty line in the world

This is an increase of USD 1.1 billion over the previous year, the World Bank said on Thursday adding that it invested USD 6.

Global support to free Suu Kyi on birthday

YANGON: Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi marked a grim 64th birthday in prison on Friday, as activists took to the Internet and planned worldwide protests to press the military junta to free her.

Famous names including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, footballer David Beckham and US actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts all offered support on a website while the United States and EU led political calls for her release.

The Nobel Laureate has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention since the ruling junta refused to recognize the landslide victory of her National League for Democracy (NLD) in 1990 elections. She is now being held in Yangon's notorious Insein Prison during her trial for a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her home.

Supporters at her National League for Democracy's headquarters in Yangon began the day by giving food to Buddhist monks at dawn, and were later due to release doves and balloons into the air in a symbol of freedom, witnesses said.

Security was tight, with plainclothes police officers videotaping people entering the building, uniformed policemen standing further away and five police trucks patrolling near the building.

"We have to hold the birthday party without the host again. We would be very happy if she could be released, we are hoping and praying for this," said senior party member Lei Lei.

In Washington, Myanmar exiles toasted the opposition leader at a birthday party on Capitol Hill while in London the wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown hosted a screening of a film dedicated to her.

At least one minister and various charity bosses were to attend the showing of "Burma VJ", which a Foreign Office spokesman said "exposes the atrocities and injustices that have been taking place under the military regime."

European Union leaders are set to make a 64-word call on Friday for her release at the end of a two-day summit in Brussels. They will say she "tirelessly defended the universal values of freedom and democracy," according to a draft statement.

The US state department, in a birthday message, urged the junta to free Aung San Suu Kyi "immediately" and hailed her as a woman who has "dedicated her life to achieving democratic change and promoting progress in Burma."

"We, along with all of her admirers in Burma and abroad, look forward to the day when she will be able to celebrate her birthday in freedom," the state department statement said, using Myanmar's former name.

Campaigners across the world planned to mark the day with events ranging from live music and speeches in Malaysia, evening vigils in Ireland and Australia and debating forums in Thailand.

Other women Nobel laureates including Iran's Shirin Ebadi wrote in a joint message on the website that they looked forward to the day their "sister" would be free.

"We have to hold the birthday party without the host again. We would be very happy if she could be released, we are hoping and praying for this," senior party member Lei Lei said.

Aung San Suu Kyi faces five years in jail if convicted in her trial, which resumes on June 26. The court case has provoked international outrage and has been described as a "show trial" by US President Barack Obama.

A global petition was delivered on Monday to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, signed by more than 670,000 people from 220 countries, calling for the release of all Myanmar's political prisoners, especially Aung San Suu Kyi.

At the US Capitol complex, Myanmar exiles and activists clinked glasses in salute to the opposition leader.

"We are sad that she is not in her house and not free, but we are not giving up our struggle and we will go on until she is released," Sein Win, Myanmar's "prime minister-in-exile" and a cousin of Aung San Suu Kyi, told the gathering.

US Congressman Joe Pitts said it was "astonishing" that some nations "continue to enable the brutal dictators of Burma to continue their attacks against their people."

He did not name countries, but China has been the key political, commercial and military backer of Myanmar.

"We must be more than 'concerned' or even 'deeply concerned.' The international community on behalf of the people of Burma must make it clear that the oppressive leaders of Burma will no longer be tolerated," he said.

Soruce:TOI

World's oldest man dies at 113

TOKYO: Tomoji Tanabe, the world's oldest man, died in his sleep at his home in southern Japan on Friday, a city official said. He was 113.


``He died peacefully. His family members were with him,'' said Junko Nakao, a city official in Miyakonojo on Japan's southern island of Kyushu. Tanabe died of heart failure, she said.

Tanabe, who was born September 18, 1895, had eight children — five sons and three daughters. The former city land surveyor also had 25 grandchildren, 53 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren, according to a statement from the Miyakonojo city. He was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest man when he was 111 years old.

Tanabe lived with his fifth son and daughter-in-law. His favorite meals were fried shrimp and Japanese miso soup with clams, the statement said. Tanabe drank milk every morning and read the newspaper. He also avoided alcohol and did not smoke, the statement said.

The city's mayor, Makoto Nagamine, said Tanabe was ``the symbol of the Miyakonojo known as a city of long life.''

``I feel very saddened by his death,'' Nagamine said in a statement. ``He cheered many citizens.''

Japanese people have among the world's longest life expectancies — nearly 86 years for women and 79 years for men — which is often attributed to the country's healthy diet rich in fish and rice.

The number of Japanese living past 100 has more than doubled in the last six years, reaching a record high of 36,000 people in 2008. The country's centenarian ranks are dominated by women, who make up 86 percent of the total.

Japan's centenarian population is expected to reach nearly 1 million — the world's largest — by 2050, according to UN projections.

Source:TOI

Air France to give crash victims €17,500 advance

PARIS: Air France's chief executive says the company will give about euro17,500 ($24,000) as an advance to the families of the victims of the crash of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

Phillipe Gourgeon says the company's lawyers are in contact with the families of the 228 victims from 32 countries to make sure the money gets to them.

Gourgeon also says in an interview broadcast Friday on France's RTL radio that Air France is looking into holding a memorial for all of the victims of the May 31 crash.

Some families of French victims have accused Air France of a lack of sympathy and of failing to provide them with timely information on the investigation into the causes of the crash.

13 killed in bomb blast, drone attack in Pak

Islamabad, Jun 14 (PTI) At least 8 people died and over 20 injured in the latest round of bomb attacks in northwest Pakistan, as a US drone strike killed 5 suspected militants in South Waziristan tribal region, considered a stronghold of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.

As the Pakistan Army expanded their operations against terrorists in the South Waziristan, the military today said 31 militants, including some foreign fighters, were killed in retaliatory air strikes.

The bomb blast occurred in Dera Ismail Khan town's Pir Market at a time when a large number of people were present. District Coordination Officer Mohsin Shah told reporters that eight persons were killed and over 20 injured in the blast. There were also reports of unidentified persons resorting to firing soon after the explosion.

Five persons were killed in a missile strike by a US drone in South Waziristan tribal region that is considered a stronghold of Taliban commander Mehsud.

The spy plane fired a missile at several vehicles and local residents said five persons were killed in the strike, the first drone attack in Pakistan's tribal belt since mid-May.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for attacks on Pearl Continental hotel on Tuesday and the twin bombings at mosques on Friday, exacting revenge for the military offensive against them. PTI

ULFA leader Paresh Barua arrested in Bangladesh?

ULFA leader Paresh Barua arrested in B'desh? Anisur Rahman Dhaka, Jun 14 (PTI) Top ULFA leader Paresh Barua, on the run for three decades, has been arrested here, a Bangladeshi newspaper reported today, but the police dismissed it as a "hoax".

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials arrested a suspected Indian national at a house in central Dhaka's posh residential locality Dhanmondi late last night, said widely-circulated Bengali dailies 'Ittefaq' and 'Samakal'.

The police is ascertaining whether the arrested man, from whom a passport was recovered with the name Shamsul Alam on it, has any link with the separatist Indian group ULFA, the newspapers said.

Quoting an unnamed intelligence official, Samakal said the arrested man was Paresh Barua, the prime accused in the seizure of huge arms and ammunitions along the Chittagong coast in 2004. Police, however, did not confirm, it added.

However, a senior CID official dismissed the reports of Barua's arrest.

"Following the reports in the two newspapers about the arrest of Paresh Barua, we checked the matter and found it to be hoax... No such person was arrested by our men as reported," the official told PTI. PTI

41 candidates on ballot for Afghanistan president

KABUL: Afghanistan's electoral commission said on Saturday that President Hamid Karzai and 40 other candidates will appear on the ballot for president this August, but the head of the commission said he felt "ashamed" that so many unqualified candidates made the final cut.

Karzai is considered the clear front-runner to win Afghanistan's second presidential election since the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime. His strongest challengers in the August 20 vote include former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Two women are also among the 41 candidates.

In announcing the final list of candidates, Azizullah Lodin, the head of Afghanistan's election commission, said he believed that many of the candidates were not qualified but said he had no power to remove them from the ballot.

"I personally feel ashamed that when I ask someone are you literate, and he says no. I ask if he has a professional background, and he says no. I ask if he was a mullah in a mosque, and he says no. And now he comes and registers himself and he wants to be president of Afghanistan. This is really shameful," Lodin told reporters.

During the country's first post-Taliban presidential election in 2004, 18 candidates ran for president. Karzai won in the first round with 55%, while the second placed finisher, Yunus Qanooni, the current speaker of the lower house of parliament, won 16 per cent. Qanooni is not running this year.

Soruce;TOi

Iran begins voting for new president

TEHRAN: Iran began voting on Friday for a new president after a fiery campaign which has seen moderate ex-premier Mir Hossein Mousavi emerge as the main challenger to incumbent hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"Polling started nationwide at 8:00 am (0330GMT). It is on schedule. It is going to last until 6:00 pm (1330 GMT)," the interior ministry, which is in charge of organising the election, said in a statement.

"We are expecting our dear citizens to come foward and vote in the early hours."

Polls, however, may remain open until midnight depending on turnout among the 46-million-strong electorate. Results are expected within 24 hours after voting ends.

The country's 10th presidential election since the 1979 revolution is a close two-horse race with passions running high after three weeks of mass rallies, stormy television debates and vicious mudslinging.

While Ahmadinejad, 52, is battling for a second four-year term in office, Mousavi, 67, is seeking to make a comeback after two decades in the political wilderness.

The election campaign turned a spotlight on deep differences within the Islamic republic after four years under Ahmadinejad.

His hardline rhetoric on the nuclear standoff and against Israel has isolated the country from the West, and his expansionist economic policies have come under fire at home.

The campaign also highlighted the glaring internal divide, with towns and villages passionately backing Ahmadinejad and young men and women in big cities throwing their weight behind Mousavi.

Analysts have been reluctant to forecast a winner, suggesting the vote may mirror 2005 when the relatively unknown Ahmadinejad scored a stunning upset in a second-round runoff against heavyweight cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

The 2009 campaign has been marked by street demonstrations and unprecedented public animosity among the candidates who traded insults and allegations of lying and corruption on prime-time television, ratcheting up the tension.

At a final campaign rally on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad, who has frequently described the Holocaust as a myth, accused his rivals of using "tactics like Hitler" to whip up public opinion against him, the Fars news agency said.

On the streets, Iranians also used the occasion to turn political rallies into night-time parties in a country that has had little to offer in terms of nightlife during three decades of conservative clerical rule.

Standing for election alongside Ahmadinejad and Mousavi -- but also running far behind -- are reformist former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi and the ex-head of the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, Mohsen Rezai.

Mousavi has pledged to work to improve relations with the outside world, although there are doubts nuclear policy would change as all strategic decisions are taken by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The election comes after new US President Barack Obama offered dialogue with Iran -- dubbed part of the "axis of evil" by his predecessor George W. Bush -- following three decades of severed ties.

Mousavi has complained that Ahmadinejad's foreign policy "undermined the dignity of Iran," and along with his fellow challengers accused the president of mismanaging the economy.

Iran, OPEC's second biggest oil exporter, is currently battling rampant inflation of 24 percent and a slump in earnings from crude oil as international prices have sunk from close to 147 dollars last year to around 72 dollars.

Ahmadinejad has left no stone unturned in seeking to bolster his image as a man of the people, accusing his rivals and their backers of dishonesty and receiving financial privileges.

The elite Revolutionary Guards -- seen to be backing Ahmadinejad -- even accused Mousavi supporters of trying to spark a "velvet revolution" by taking to the streets in their thousands dressed in green, his campaign colour.

"Such a scenario will never succeed in Iran due to the political structure of our Islamic nation. I believe that with the alertness of the people, any move for any velvet revolution will be nipped in the bud," Guards chief Yadollah Javani said in a media interview, referring to the non-violent overthrow in 1989 of the communist regime in then Czechoslovakia.

If blacksmith's son and former Tehran mayor Ahmadinejad is defeated, it will be the first time a sitting president has been ousted after a single term.

A runoff will be held on June 19 if no single candidate emerges with 50 percent plus one vote on Friday.

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Nepal's first woman deputy PM dead

KATHMANDU: Shailaja Acharya, the only woman politician in Nepal to have been a deputy prime minister, died here early on Friday after a long battle with Alzheimer's and pneumonia.

The 65-year-old, who came from one of the most politically active families of Nepal, had been admitted to the Teaching Hospital here on Wednesday after receiving treatment earlier in New Delhi and Bangkok.

The death of Acharya, niece of Nepal's first elected prime minister Bishweshwor Prasad Koirala and aunt of Bollywood star Manisha Koirala, would be mourned in Nepal as well as India where she spent nine years in exile and was close to veteran Indian Congress and Socialist leaders, especially former Indian premier Chandra Shekhar.

Acharya entered politics as a student when, inspired by her family's role in the pro-democracy movement, she showed a black flag to then king Mahendra, who held absolute power. She was jailed for three years for the offence.

A member of the Nepali Congress (NC) party, she won two elections from her home district in Morang in eastern Nepal and became the first woman in Nepal to head the water resources ministry as well as become deputy prime minister.

The soft-spoken, petite leader, however, started losing her position in the party after Mahendra's son Gyanendra seized power through a bloodless coup. She tried to vie for the leadership of her party but was pipped by her younger uncle, Girija Prasad Koirala, who still remains president of the NC.

She was also the subject of controversy after she supported constitutional monarchy and opposed joining forces with the Maoists to end Gyanendra's regime.

Acharya blamed her fall to the fact that she was a woman and not taken seriously in Nepal's male-dominated political arena despite her sacrifices.

During Nepal's pro-democracy struggles, she was also forced to live underground for two years in addition to spending nine years in exile in India.

But two years ago, it seemed her flagging political career would be revived after Koirala recommended her name as Nepal's ambassador to India despite opposition from his own party men and allies.

However, fate dealt a blow to Acharya when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and had to be hospitalised.

Since then, she had dropped out of the public eye, hitting the headlines only because of her deteriorating condition and the alleged negligence by her party to help with her treatment.

Source:TOI

Air France to replace speed sensors in planes

PARIS: Air France has said all its flights using long-haul Airbus jets will be equipped immediately with new speed sensors after last week’s disaster over the Atlantic, a pilots’ union said on Tuesday.

The pitot tubes that gauge speed have become the focus of an investigation into the crash after messages showed they provided “inconsistent” data to the pilots and might have played a role in the June 1crash.

The Air France A330 that crashed into the Atlantic last week, killing 228 on board, had sent 24 automated messages in its final minutes on June 1, detailing a rapid series of system failures.

The small Alter union, which claims to represent 15 Air France pilots, said in a statement that it had found that the first of these messages pointed to a problem with the pitot tubes.

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14 dead, 57 hurt as bomb goes off in Pak hotel

PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide blast at a luxury hotel in Pakistan's northwest Peshawar city has risen to 14, while 57 people were injured, a police official said Wednesday.

Early reports suggest at least two men shot their way through a security barrier and rammed a pick-up truck packed with explosives into the five-star Pearl Continental hotel late Tuesday, causing massive devastation.

"Three more dead bodies including the body of a police official were recovered from the debris this morning (Wednesday)," Abdul Ghafoor Afridi, a senor police official in Peshawar, said.

"Now the death toll has risen to 14 and there are 57 injured. The number of casualties could rise as we fear that some people are still trapped under the debris. One portion of the hotel was totally destroyed," he added.

"Three people including a manger of the hotel are missing and we fear they are under the debris."

Two foreign United Nations workers -- Serbian Aleksandar Vorkapic with the refugee agency and Filipina Perseveranda So with the children's agency -- were killed, the UN said, while many foreigners were among the injured.

It is the seventh deadly bombing to hit the troubled city in a month, as fears grow that Taliban militants are exacting revenge for a punishing six-week military offensive against them in three northwest districts.

"It was a suicide attack," city police chief Sefwat Ghayur said.

"Occupants of a double-cabin pick-up truck forced their way in, firing at the security guards. The attackers struck their vehicle into the hotel building, and it exploded on impact."

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Senior police officer Abdul Ghafoor Afridi said there were at least two attackers, and they were wearing security guard uniforms.

Chaos enveloped the hotel popular with dignitaries, officials and foreign visitors, with smoke billowing around the building in the high-security Khyber Road area of Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province.

"The blast was so huge that I thought my ear drums were damaged forever. I fell from the chair and saw others also falling and the glass shards scattered in the meeting room," said charity worker and hotel client Zarshaid Khan.

"When I managed to get out of the room, I saw flames and security guards lead me to a safe side."

Sahib Gul, a doctor at Peshawar's main Lady Reading Hospital, said six foreigners were among the 52 injured.

Among them was a British citizen, the Foreign Office in London confirmed.

Rows of balconies appeared to have been ripped off the face of the hotel, where rescue workers struggled to help those trapped inside. A clutch of United Nations vehicles were among dozens of charred cars parked outside.

The injured and confused stumbled among twisted metal, with rubble strewn among the once-manicured lawns of the hotel, just opposite the historic Bala Hisar Fort and Peshawar's golf course.

"I was sitting in the eastern side of the hotel building and suddenly there was a huge blast which tumbled my chair and I fell on the ground. As I rose from the ground I saw flames and smoke," hotel employee Ghulam Ahmed said.

Senior police officer Shafqat Malik said more than 500 kilograms of explosives were used. Witnesses said the blast shattered windows of a provincial assembly and Peshawar High Court nearby.

Tuesday's attack echoes a suicide truck bomb attack on the luxury Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in September 2008 that killed 60 people.

Pakistan has been hit by a string of devastating attacks in recent weeks, with markets and security targets hit in Peshawar and police buildings targeted in Islamabad and the cultural capital Lahore.

On Friday, a suicide bomb ripped through a mosque packed with worshippers, also in the northwest of the country, killing 38 people and wounding dozens more in the deadliest such attack in more than two months.

The Taliban in Pakistan have warned of more "massive attacks" in retaliation for the military operations against them in Swat, Lower Dir and Buner.

Source:TOI

Air France plane's tail fin found, hunt for black boxes intensifies

FERNANDO DE NORONHA, BRAZIL: Brazil on Monday recovered the tail fin belonging to the Air France jet that plunged into the Atlantic a week ago killing 228 people, as well as more human remains from the doomed flight.

Twenty-four bodies so far have been fished out of the Atlantic, Brazilian officials said.

The tail fin discovery is the most important element to date in the quest to find out why the Airbus A330 went down June 1 as it flew from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. No distress call was received from the pilots.

The plane's black boxes were mounted in the tail section, and the fin's location could narrow the underwater search for those devices by a French submarine expected to arrive in the zone on Wednesday.

A Brazilian frigate was expected early Tuesday in the Fernando de Noronha archipelago carrying the first 16 bodies along with airplane debris, air force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Henry Munhoz told reporters.

From there, the bodies and debris will be taken to the mainland coastal city of Recife, where investigators hope to identify the remains by checking dental records and DNA samples provided by relatives. In Recife French investigators will also pore over the plane's components.

The other bodies would follow "at an appropriate time," according to an air force statement.

Brazilian and French teams continued to scour the crash zone 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) off Brazil's northeast coast for more bodies and pieces of wreckage.

The clock is ticking for finding the black boxes, believed to lie on the sea floor at a depth of up to 6,000 meters (19,700 feet). Their homing beacons will cease to operate in three weeks.

The US Navy said on Sunday it would send two towable pinger locators and a crew of around 20 to the scene later this week to join the hunt for the devices.

If the voice and data recorders are found, a French research sub -- the same one that has explored the wreck of the Titanic -- will be deployed to recover them. That small sub, the Nautile, is also expected to arrive within days.

The disaster is the worst aviation accident since 2001, and unprecedented in Air France's 75-year history.

Early suspicions are focusing on the Airbus A330's airspeed sensors, which appear to have malfunctioned in the minutes before the catastrophe, according to some of the 24 automatic data warnings sent by the plane.

Investigators are looking at whether the sensors, known as pitots, could have iced over, possibly leading the Air France pilots to fly into a storm in the zone that day without knowing their airspeed.

France's transport minister Dominique Bussereau said on the weekend that could have led the pilots to set the plane at "too low a speed, which can cause it to stall, or too high a speed, which can lead to the plane ripping up as it approached the speed of sound, as the outer skin is not designed to resist such speed."

An internal Air France memo dated November 2008 and seen by AFP mentions "a significant number of incidents" related to the pitots.

A US airline, US Airways, said Monday it was replacing the pitots on its nine Airbus A330-300s.

Source:TOi

Obama admin to unveil its India agenda at USIBC on June 17

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration may unveil its India agenda at 'Synergies Summit' of the US India Business Council on June 17 when three of its top officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be present.

Clinton and other officials are expected to spell out the new administration's policy for India, with whom the US President has favoured "deep" strategic relations.

India, on the other hand, would be represented by its commerce minister and some of its leading corporate leaders, including Azim Premji and Anil Ambani.

Besides Clinton, the United States Government would be represented by its Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and US Trade Representatives Ambassador Ron Kirk at the day-long deliberations between the corporate leaders of the two countries at the 34th annual convention of the USIBC.

The US officials are expected to articulate the policies of the Obama administration towards India and set the ball rolling for the rest part of Obama's current tenure.

In the first five months of its governance, the Obama administration had to wait for the elections in India to be over. Now that the new government has occupied its seat in New Delhi the White House does not want to waste any time and it now seems to be all set to put the relationship on fast track.

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26 people killed in China landslide: Report

BEIJING: Rescuers searched for 78 missing people Saturday after a landslide buried an iron ore plant and several homes in a valley in southwestern China.

Seven people were rescued, three of which were seriously injured, said an official with the propaganda office in the city of Chongqing, who would only give her surname, Zhu.

More than 500 rescuers looked for the dozens of missing, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The 78 included residents and 27 workers buried in a mine, Zhu said.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao ordered local authorities to ``spare no efforts'' to save those buried, it said.

The area where the accident occurred Friday in Wulong county lies deep in the hills about 90 miles (150 kilometre) from Chongqing's urban center. Densely populated Chongqing is rich in iron ore, natural gas and other mineral resources, and industrial accidents frequently strike the area.

An official with the Chongqing work safety supervision bureau, who would give only his surname Dong because he was not authorized to speak to media, said the landslide did not appear to be related to mining activities.

Similar landslides have been reported around China, including one last year where at least 277 people were killed when a shoddy holding reservoir burst and a three-story wave of mud and iron-mining waste inundated a valley in Shanxi province in northern China.

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Air France Rio-Paris flight missing with 228 aboard

PARIS: An Air France plane on its way from Brazil to Paris has gone missing with 228 people on board, the airline said on Monday.

Its last known location was unclear. Brazilian television said the Brazilian air force had started a search mission over the Atlantic Ocean for the plane.

Flight AF 447 has 216 passengers and 12 crew on board. It left Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time and was expected in Paris on Monday at 11:15 a.m. (0915 GMT).

"Air France regrets to announce that it is without news from flight AF 447, which was flying on the Rio de Janeiro - Paris Charles de Gaulle route and was scheduled to arrive at 11.15 a.m. today (0915 GMT)," an Air France spokesman said.

An Air France-KLM spokeswoman in Amsterdam said there had been no radio contact with the missing plane "for a while".

The plane was an Airbus 330-200, according to the Paris airports authority website. Air France said relatives of people travelling on board flight AF 447 were being taken care of in a special area of Charles de Gaulle airport.

Sourcew;TOI

Canadian writer Alice Munro wins International Booker Prize

LONDON: Canadian short story writer Alice Munro has won this year's Man Booker International Prize worth USD 95,000, the judges said today.


The panel, which comprised writers Jane Smiley, Amit Chaudhuri and Andrey Kurkov, praised the 77-year-old for the originality and depth of her work.

"Alice Munro is mostly known as a short story writer and yet she brings as much depth, wisdom and precision to every story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels," they said.

"To read Alice Munro is to learn something every time that you never thought of before."

Munro, who was born and still lives in Canada, published her first collection of stories, "Dance of the Happy Shades", in 1968, which won Canada's prestigious Governor General's Award. A clutch of other gongs have followed.

The Man Booker International Prize is affiliated with the Booker Prize, one of the world's most prestigious literary awards, but is unique as it can be won by an author of any nationality providing their work is available in English.

It is awarded every two years, and since its creation in 2005 has been given to Albania's Ismail Kadare and Nigeria's Chinua Achebe.

Munro will receive the prize at a ceremony in Dublin on June 25.

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