W O R L D

Suicide bombers strike US base in Afghanistan
Kabul, October 15
Suicide bombers struck inside Afghanistan's fiercely anti-Taliban Panjshir valley today, the first time in a decade of war that the insurgents have managed to use their trademark tactic in the normally peaceful northern province.

A policeman at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Panjshir province of Afghanistan on Saturday. — Reuters

Flood fears in Thai capital
Bangkok, October 15
Rescue workers reinforced make-shift walls and sand-bags around Bangkok on Saturday as the worst floods in half-a-century threatened Thailand's low-lying capital after swamping entire provinces in the north.

Wall Street protests go global; riots in Rome
Rome, October 15
Demonstrators worldwide shouted their rage on Saturday against bankers and politicians they accuse of ruining economies and condemning millions to hardship through greed and bad government.


Activists protest against banking and finance in Rome on Saturday. —Reuters

When Nehru almost became Chancellor of Cambridge
London, October 15
As members of the University of Cambridge’s Senate queued in their traditional long black gowns to vote for the next Chancellor of the 802-year-old institution on Friday, many remembered that Jawaharlal Nehru almost became its Chancellor in 1950.

In African cave, signs of an ancient paint factory?
New York, October 15
Archaeologists have uncovered what could claim is probably an ancient paint factory at a cave in South Africa. An international team, led by the University of Bergen in Norway, has discovered the 100000-year-old workshop at the Blombos Cave, 200 miles east of Cape Town, holding tools and ingredients with which early humans probably mixed some of the first known paint, The New York Times reported.

Charlie Chaplin’s workplace up for sale
Los Angeles, October 15
The historic Taft Building, a 12-story tower which once housed the office of Charlie Chaplin, is up for sale. The building, located at the southeast corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, has been listed for sale by longtime owner Langer Meringoff Properties.

Suicide bombers strike US base in Afghanistan

Kabul, October 15
Suicide bombers struck inside Afghanistan's fiercely anti-Taliban Panjshir valley today, the first time in a decade of war that the insurgents have managed to use their trademark tactic in the normally peaceful northern province.

Four bombers targeted the Provincial Reconstruction Team headquarters, which houses US and Afghan troops and civilians, around dawn, Afghan and NATO officials said.

They were halted outside the base, but the deputy provincial Governor Abdul Rahman Kabiri said they had killed two civilians and wounded two guards when they detonated their explosives.

Panjshir provincial police chief Qaseem Junglebagh disputed that toll and said the four men were all shot dead by security forces before they could set off the bombs.

A spokesman for NATO-led forces confirmed there had been a suicide attack, but said the compound was not breached and there were no foreign casualties.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, and said the bombers were from Panjshir province. If true, it would be an alarming sign of growing Taliban support outside their traditional heartland, as the valley was one of the few places in Afghanistan never subdued by the group.

"This attack made a bad day for foreign invaders in the province for the first time," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah

Mujahid said in a statement. "There is no secure place for them in the country," he said. The attack will raise fresh concerns about the readiness of the Afghan police and soldiers to provide security after foreign combat troops head home, as it was one of the first parts of the country handed over to local forces.

Picturesque Panjshir, famous for its jagged cliffs and deep valleys, is now under Afghan security control, and strict checks take place on most vehicles and passengers entering the area. The handover took place in July but foreign troops have remained in the province to carry out reconstruction work. — Reuters 

Flood fears in Thai capital

Bangkok, October 15
Rescue workers reinforced make-shift walls and sand-bags around Bangkok on Saturday as the worst floods in half-a-century threatened Thailand's low-lying capital after swamping entire provinces in the north.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra sought to reassure Bangkok's 12 million people they would largely escape floods that have swept over a third of Thailand since July, killing at least 297 people, causing about $3 billion in damage and turning villages and industrial parks into lakes.

The north, northeast and centre of Thailand have been worst hit and Bangkok — much of it only two metres (6.5 ft) above sea level — is at risk as water overflows from reservoirs in the north, swelling the Chao Phraya river that winds through the densely populated city.

Yingluck said in a national address that Bangkok is well fortified after authorities raised embankments at the three outer areas.

She added that water released from several dams should reduce the chance of floods as a wall of northern run-off water makes its way to Bangkok over the weekend, coinciding with high estuary tides that hamper the river's flow into the sea.

"We will protect strategic areas and the heart of the economy such as industrial zones, the central part of all provinces and Thai capital as well as Suvarnabhumi Airport, industrial estates and evacuation centres," she said, referring to Bangkok's main international airport. — Reuters 

Indian embassy asks people to be cautious

Bangkok: With floods hitting several northern parts of Thailand and threatening Bangkok, the Indian mission in the capital has advised visitors from the country to make sure they ascertain the ground situation before venturing out. The Indian embassy informed people in a notice that several towns and cities, including tourist places of Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya, have been inundated by flood waters and portions of 54 highways have been closed. — PTI

Middleton sisters raise £1 million for charity

London, Oct 15
Prince William's wife Kate Middleton and her sister Pippa have helped raise nearly a million pounds for charity.

The 29-year-old Duchess of Cambridge's event held at St James's Palace and organised by 100 women in Hedge Funds charity raised £675,000, while Pippa helped raise £130,000 at her event held down in Surrey.

Kate sizzled in a red red evening gown by British luxury brand Beulah London as the guest of honour along with her husband Prince William, 29, who is a patron of the 10-year-old city-based charity.

This year's proceeds will go to the Child Bereavement Charity, which helps people through the loss of a child or parent, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported. Ann Chalmers, Chief Executive of Child Bereavement Charity, said: “The funds will help us extend our reach to more bereaved children, families and professionals throughout the UK.” — PTI 

Pak HC set to hear pleas against Zardari, Gilani

Lahore, October 15
A Pakistani High Court has constituted a Full bench to hear petitions against President Asif Ali Zardari for not disassociating himself from political activities and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani for continuously defying orders of the superior judiciary.

A senior judge of Lahore High Court, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, will head the Full Bench, while Justices Nasir Saeed Sheikh and Chaudhry Shahid Saeed will be its members.

The Bench will start its proceedings next week.

Lawyer A K Dogar filed the petitions on behalf of two petitioners and asked the court to direct President Zardari to disassociate himself from the political office of chief of the Pakistan People's Party in light of a decision given by a full bench of the same court in May.

Rana Ilamuddin Ghazi, another lawyer, said in his petition that the full bench of the High Court, in its earlier order, had declared the President's involvement in political activities as unconstitutional.

He said Zardari had not disassociated himself from political activities at the earliest as was expected by the court, nor had he stopped "misusing" the presidency for the purposes of his political party. — PTI

The petition against the Prime Minister was filed by Allah Bakhsh Gondal, who contended that Gilani, by deliberately defying the Supreme Court’s orders and repeatedly attempting to subvert the Constitution, had ceased to hold the office by automatic operation of Articles 5, 6 and 92(2) of the Constitution. —PTI

Wall Street protests go global; riots in Rome
n Cars torched and banks attacked in Italian capital
n Assange leads anti-corporate rally in London

OCTOBER REVOLUTION? A car is set on fire as activists protesting against corporate greed and austerity measures clashed with the police in Rome on Saturday. — AP/PTI

Rome, October 15
Demonstrators worldwide shouted their rage on Saturday against bankers and politicians they accuse of ruining economies and condemning millions to hardship through greed and bad government.

Galvanised by the Occupy Wall Street movement, the protests began in New Zealand, rippled round the world to Europe and were expected to return to their starting point in New York. Most rallies were, however, small and barely held up traffic. The biggest anticipated was in Rome, where organisers said they believed 1,00,000 would take part.

"At the global level, we can't carry on any more with public debt that wasn't created by us but by thieving governments, corrupt banks and speculators who don't give a damn about us," said Nicla Crippa, 49, who wore a T-shirt saying "enough" as she arrived at the Rome protest. "They caused this international crisis and are still profiting from it, they should pay for it, " she said.

The Rome protesters, including the unemployed, students and pensioners, planned to march through the centre, past the Colosseum and finish in Piazza San Giovanni. Some 2,000 police were on hand to keep the Rome demonstrators, who call themselves "the indignant ones", peaceful and to avoid a repeat of the violence last year when students protesting over education policy clashed with police.

As some 750 buses bearing protesters converged on the capital, students at Rome university warmed up with their own mini-demo on Saturday morning.

The carried signs reading "Your Money is Our Money", and "Yes We Camp," an echo of the slogan "Yes We Can" used by US President Barack Obama.

In imitation of the occupation of Zuccotti Park near Wall Street in Manhattan, some protesters have been camped out across the street from the headquarters of the Bank of Italy forseveral days. — Reuters

When Nehru almost became Chancellor of Cambridge

London, October 15
As members of the University of Cambridge’s Senate queued in their traditional long black gowns to vote for the next Chancellor of the 802-year-old institution on Friday, many remembered that Jawaharlal Nehru almost became its Chancellor in 1950.

There is much interest in the ‘historic’ election since this is the first time a proper election is being held to the constitutional head of the university since 1847, when Prince Albert was elected.

Since then, there was no occasion to hold a proper election, with dons deciding the incumbent among themselves.

So far, all the Chancellors since the post was created in 1246 were aristocrats, bishops, generals or princes; but no longer.

The candidates for the 108th chancellorship now are a billionaire Lord and former politician (Lord Sainsbury, the official candidate), a Shakespearean actor (Brian Blessed), a human rights lawyer (Michael Mansfield) and an Indian-origin grocer (Abdul Arain).

Voting for the post is being held on Friday and Saturday, with the result expected on Sunday. The Senate membership is estimated to be over 150,000.

University sources told PTI that some members had come from Hong Kong and US to vote.

Senior university figures recalled that in 1950, several university dons proposed Nehru’s name as a candidate for the chancellorship when the incumbent, Jan Smuts, died.

The official candidate then was Lord Tedder, while Nehru was nominated by his supporters without giving him an opportunity to withdraw.

Records and reports in ‘Varsity’, the student newspaper of the university, reveal that even though Nehru felt honoured to be nominated, he felt he could be of no service as he was busy as India’s prime minister, and eventually persuaded his supporters to withdraw his candidature.

Those who had nominated Nehru included Bertrand Russell, E M Forster and Lord Mountbatten. It was after much persuasion and efforts by Nehru and the then Indian High Commissioner V K Krishna Menon that his candidature was eventually withdrawn.

Nehru sent a cable to Menon from Delhi when his nomination was announced that “embarrassing questions are put to me” and that “on no account am I going to be a party to a contest”. He added that the reaction in India was also “strongly unfavourable” to his contesting the election.

The records show that Nehru’s supporters in Cambridge were reluctant to agree to his withdrawing his candidature, arguing that they had the right to elect whom they wished.

But Menon managed to persuade them that Nehru would be embarrassed. But since Nehru’s candidature was withdrawn after the last date of withdrawal, the election had to take place, with only one candidate, Lord Tedder.

In the event, the election was held on November 10, 1950 with the time allowed for votes reduced to 2pm to 2.30pm. After half hour of voting, with about 200 votes cast, Lord Tedder was declared elected, much to the disappointment of Nehru’s many supporters. — PTI

In African cave, signs of an ancient paint factory?

New York, October 15
Archaeologists have uncovered what could claim is probably an ancient paint factory at a cave in South Africa. An international team, led by the University of Bergen in Norway, has discovered the 100000-year-old workshop at the Blombos Cave, 200 miles east of Cape Town, holding tools and ingredients with which early humans probably mixed some of the first known paint, The New York Times reported.

These cave artisans had stones for pounding and grinding colourful dirt enriched with a kind of iron oxide to a powder, known as ocher. This was blended with binding fat of mammal bone marrow and a dash of charcoal.

Traces of ocher were left on the tools, and samples of the reddish compound were collected in large abalone shells, where the paint was liquefied, stirred and scooped out with a bone spatula, say the archaeologists.

According to them, the workshop remains show the earliest example yet of how emergent Homo sapiens processed ocher, one of the species’ first pigments in wide use, its red colour apparently rich in symbolic significance.

The early humans may have applied the concoction to their skin for protection or decoration, say the archaeologists who have called this evidence of early conceptual abilities “a benchmark in the evolution of complex human cognition”.

The discovery dials back the date when the modern Homo sapiens population was known to have started using paint.

Previously, no workshop older than 60,000 years had come to light, and the earliest cave and rock art began appearing about 40,000 years ago.

The cave people in South Africa were already learning to find, combine and store substances, skills that reflected advanced technology and social practices as well as the creativity of the self-aware.

The paint makers also appeared to have developed an elementary knowledge of chemistry and some understanding of long-term planning earlier than previously thought.Christopher S. Henshilwood, who led the team, said that it had taken a great deal of time and repeated testing to determine the age of the material and “make sure that the ocherous-looking deposits on each tool did in fact relate to the substance within the shells.” The findings have been published in the ‘Science’ journal. — PTI

Charlie Chaplin’s workplace up for sale

Los Angeles, October 15
The historic Taft Building, a 12-story tower which once housed the office of Charlie Chaplin, is up for sale. The building, located at the southeast corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, has been listed for sale by longtime owner Langer Meringoff Properties.

The 1680 building is expected to fetch as much as $30 million, the Hollywood Reporter said. The tower was built in 1923 and over the years has housed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the offices of Chaplin and Will Rogers.

The 119,046-square-foot property is about 80 per cent occupied and is home to several entertainment and media companies, including production company Last Exit Productions and music talent agency Evolution Music Partners, among others.

The property is being marketed to buyers who would operate it as an entertainment office building, according to listing agent Kevin Shannon of CBRE Group. It was listed about a month ago. — PTI