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Thai airports still closed as court date looms
Prince Harry’s chopper dream in danger?
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Obama picks Hillary as secretary of state
Nepal parties form mechanism to run govt
Cars, too, have a personality
Blasts kill 15 in Baghdad
Taj GM’s parents watched in horror as family died
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Thai airports still closed as court date looms
Bangkok, December 1 The general manager of Suvarnabhumi airport said it could take a week to resume operations because security and computer systems had been compromised during the blockade by People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters. “Normally, checking the IT systems takes one week,” Serirat Prasutanond said, adding the delay would be even longer if any of the airport’s systems needed repair. “We have to check and recheck,” he said. Thousands of yellow-clad PAD protestors defied the police and occupied Suvarnabhumi for a seventh day today in a campaign to topple Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, whom they accuse of being a pawn for his brother-in-law, former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 coup and exiled since. As a result, tens of thousands of foreigners have been stranded in Thailand or are unable to even begin their holidays during what should be the peak tourist season. The main domestic hub, Don Muang, has also been occupied, and the air cargo industry has ground to a halt. Forecasts for an economy already suffering from the global financial crisis are grim. Finance minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech said today the economy might be flat next year, or grow by just 1 to 2 per cent, after earlier forecasts of between 4-5 per cent. Thailand’s Board of Trade director said the cost of the airport closure was “incalculable”, but a senior board member offered a figure, telling the Nation newspaper lost export earnings ran at around 3 billion baht ($85 million) a day. The government is providing free hotel rooms and meals for those stranded, but dealing with the estimated 1,00,000 persons affected is proving a logistical nightmare and many are falling through the net. The chaos has worried Thailand’s neighbours, due to meet in two weeks for a regional summit. Surin Pitsuwan, head of Southeast Asia’s 10-nation grouping, ASEAN, said a postponement might be wise.— Reuters
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Prince Harry’s chopper dream in danger?
London, December 1 The reason: He did not score well in his theoretical examination in the first week of his aptitude training as well as struggled to grasp the classroom theory to earn a place on the next stage, according to sources. “He’s a good flier. Very confident, very calm. Great natural manual skills and coordination, and a good sense of what’s around him in the air. But the theory is a real stretch for him,” the Daily Star quoted an unnamed source as saying. Harry began a month-long series of trials to become a helicopter gunship pilot around 15 days ago. The 24-year-old third-in-line to the British throne has so far won a medium grading for his flying skills at the controls of a Slingsby Firefly trainer plane and has another fortnight to correct his ways or face failing training. More than 50 per cent of applicants fail the first hurdle at the Middle Wallop base in Hants. Those who pass go through to an 18-month training schedule that earn them their helicopter pilot wings. According to the source, Harry is desperate to make the grade as he feels it is the only way he will see active service again. He had struggled with academic life at school and Sandhurst Military Academy. He also scraped through with two of the lowest A-level grades Eton has seen and often had to pester aides for help at Sandhurst. “Harry isn’t a natural academic,” another unnamed source was quoted as saying. — PTI
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Obama picks Hillary as secretary of state Chicago, December 1 Clinton and Gates, who have been at odds with Obama in the past over foreign policy and defense issues, will implement Obama’s vision of rebuilding the US image abroad and oversee two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I assembled this team because I am a strong believer in strong personalities and strong opinions. I think that’s how the best decisions are made,” Obama said at a news conference. Clinton, standing with Obama on the stage in Chicago, said the US must rely on its friends to help confront threats like global warming and terrorism - an implicit rebuke to the go-it-alone approach of President George W. Bush. Along with Clinton and Gates, Obama named retired Marine General James Jones as national security adviser and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as head of homeland security. He also named former Justice Department official Eric Holder as attorney general and Susan Rice, an Obama foreign policy adviser, as UN Ambassador. All the nominees are expected to win quick confirmation by the Democratic-controlled Senate. The announcements have been given added emphasis by last week’s rampage in
Mumbai, India, where gunmen killed nearly 200 people, including at least five US citizens, ratcheting up tensions with nuclear-armed rival Pakistan. With polls showing most Americans more concerned about the dire state of the economy than national security, Obama spent much of last week naming leading members of his economic team and presenting himself as a strong chief executive officer. But the Mumbai attacks were a timely reminder that Obama will not have the luxury of focusing only on fixing the economy as he succeeds outgoing Bush. His vice-president-elect, Joe Biden, warned during the presidential campaign that Obama could be tested by a national security crisis within six months of taking office on January 20. Gates has said he wanted to leave at the end of the Bush administration and it is unclear how long he plans to serve in Obama’s administration. While Gates avoided direct criticism of Obama during the election campaign, he has advocated policies that have been at odds with Obama on issues like the Iraq war. Obama wants to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office, but Gates has argued against setting timetables and a quick pullout, saying it could jeopardise the security gains that have been made over the past year.— Reuters
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Nepal parties form mechanism to run govt
Nepal’s major ruling coalition partners - CPN (Maoist), CPN-UML and Maadhesi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF) - on Sunday constituted a high-level political mechanism to run the coalition government. A meeting of top-brass leaders from the three parties held at Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s official residence in Baluwatar today reached an agreement to form the political coordination committee comprising six members - two each from a party. According to Maoist leader Barsha Man Pun, alias Ananta, Dev Gurung from the Maoist, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Bhim Rawal from the UML and Upendra Yadav and Sarad Singh Bhandari from the MPRF are in the mechanism. It has been said the committee formed as mentioned in the government’s Common Minimum Programme will work together to operate the government and provide necessary advice for governing. The mechanism will be extended at the earliest by including the representatives from other three fringe ruling parties.
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Cars, too, have a personality
Washington, December 1 “The study confirmed with some rigour what many people have already felt - cars seem to have consistent personality traits associated with them, and that this is similar to the way people perceive facial expressions. The most unique aspect of the study was that we were able to quantitatively link the perception of cars to aspects of their physical structure in a way that allows to generate a car that would project, say, aggression, anger or masculinity or the opposite traits,” lead researcher Dennis Slice said. Slice of Florida State University and colleagues explored the link between perception and the geometry of a car front and its parts to reach the conclusion.
— PTI
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Baghdad, December 1 The near simultaneous explosions come hours after a senior Iraqi military official was wounded by a roadside bomb targeting his convoy. Violence has fallen sharply in Iraq over the past year, but insurgents have shown themselves still capable of conducting large-scale attacks. Officials expect more violence ahead of provincial elections due on January 31.
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Taj GM’s parents watched in horror as family died Dubai, December 1 Major General (retd) Jagtar Singh Kang and his wife, and parents of Taj’s general manager Karambir Singh Kang, who were in Bahrain to visit his sister Amrit Kaur, could do nothing as three members of their family died in the Mumbai terror attacks. Two of their grandchildren and their daughter-in-law were among those who were killed during the attack. The bodies of Kang’s wife Niti (40), and sons Uday (14) and Samar (5), were recovered from the locked bathroom of their hotel room, three days after the attacks began. It is believed that the three suffocated in their bathroom after a raging fire, sparked by grenade explosions that drained their room of any oxygen, Bahrain’s Gulf Daily News reported. “Karambir and Amrit’s parents came to Bahrain on November 5 and were supposed to be here until December 5,” Amrit's friend told the newspaper. “It was a terrible feeling because they knew that the hotel where Karambir, Niti and the children were staying, was under attack. They couldn’t sleep all night and by 3.30 am the media announced Niti and the children could be dead, though it was not confirmed then,” he said. The couple returned to Mumbai to be with their son. Karambir Singh Kang became the general manager of Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in November last year. — PTI
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US President-elect Barack Obama has named former rival Hillary Clinton as secretary of state on Monday and said Robert Gates would remain defense secretary as part of a national security team charged with recasting America’s leadership of world affairs.
