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2 Italian women abducted in Iraq
Baghdad Governor escapes bid on life |
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14 Hamas militants die in Israeli air attack
Typhoon pounds Japan; eight dead
Pak dismisses US claim on Osama
Pak writer Ashfaq Ahmed dead
LTTE to repay funds taken from civilians
Republicans laud role of Indian-Americans
Viking burial site discovered
Hollywood roped in to
catch piece of sun
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Massive rally against terrorism in Moscow Moscow, September 7 The demonstration, supported by the mayor of Moscow and official social organisations, was expected by the authorities to attract some 100,000 people in front of Saint Basil’s Cathedral, one of the city’s most famous landmarks just outside the walls of the Kremlin. “Russia Against Terror” were the words on a large banner put up by the local authorities in the colours of the Russian flag. Many of the massive sea of people who turned out for the demonstration in front of the cathedral were brandishing banners, religious insignia, Russian flags and images of Saint George slaying the dragon. “Terror is worse than plague”, “The enemy will be defeated”, “The victory will be ours”, read some of the slogans on the banners. Stirring Russian anthems were resounding around the scene of the rally, which was being held in wet weather amid strict security that required participants to gather two hours in advance and undergo airport-style security checks. The site of the rally had been checked by sniffer dogs before being closed off. Several hundred police were on duty following the series of terror acts to have hit Russia over the past fortnight. Valery, a pensioner with medals proudly pinned to his chest, summed up the patriotic atmosphere of the gathering. “How can you kill children and shoot them? I came because Russia was slapped in the face and we will not take it,” he said. Meanwhile, on the second day of the national mourning, a shocked and anguished Russia remembered the 338 innocent victims of the Beslan school carnage, including 156 children. In schools, government offices and military units the day began with a one-minute silence in memory of the victims. Flags were flying at half-mast at the Kremlin and administrative buildings throughout the country spread over 11 time zones. — AFP
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2 Italian women abducted in Iraq Baghdad, September 7 A spokesman for the Bridge to Baghdad, an aid group, named the two Italians as Simona Pari and Simona Torretta. A spokesman in Rome for another Italian aid group — Intersos — which shares offices with the Bridge to Baghdad, said the two Iraqis kidnapped by the gunmen were a woman who worked for Intersos and an engineer who worked for the Bridge to Baghdad. — Reuters
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Baghdad Governor escapes bid on life
Baghdad, September 7 “At around 9 am, militants opened fire at his convoy and then detonated a car bomb... The Governor is safe. There are victims but we don’t know how many.” However, a police investigator said the bomb was actually a small booby trap device planted in a pothole. “A large number of gunmen started firing at his convoy, pushing it towards where the bomb was planted”. Militants detonated the bomb, but a civilian vehicle was caught in front of the Governor’s convoy and shielded it from the force of the blast. Haidri later told Al-Arabiya satellite news channel the pair had died and that some of his bodyguards had been wounded in the attack. A hospital official in Baghdad and the son of the Governor of northern Iraq province of Niniveh, Leith Duried Kashmula, were also slain by unknown assailants in Mosul city today. Kashmula was shot several times in the chest as he was alone in his car in western Mosul, Hazem
Gallwai, media advisor for the governorate, said.
— AFP |
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14 Hamas militants die in Israeli air attack
Jerusalem, September 7 The attack came a week after a double suicide bombing killed 16 persons in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva, prompting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to declare to fight with “all its might”. Israeli tanks, helicopters and warplanes attacked what the army claimed “a gathering field of Hamas to train in the planting and activating of explosive devices” on the outskirts of the Gaza neighbourhood of Seja’ia and killed at least 14 militants. Thirty others were also wounded. In a statement, the Israeli army claimed that a unique and powerful explosive device was assembled at the field two weeks ago to be activated against an Israeli target. “Trainings for different scenarios, including taking control of a car, were carried out at the training field recently, as a part of the preparation to kidnap Israeli civilians and soldiers”, the army said. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have pledged revenge for the deadliest strike. Calling it “a new wave of aggression committed against our people and against our sons,” Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said, “this ugly Israeli crime will not go unpunished.” It is now an “open war” al-Masri declared, adding “one day for us and one day for them.” A statement by the Hamas military wing said that the Israeli forces struck a “scouts camp where a group of fighters were training.” “The enemy will pay for its crimes with a heavy price of blood and bodies ... in the streets of al-Quds (Jerusalem), Bet Lid, Dizengoff and Hadera,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement in solidarity with Hamas. Blaming Israel for derailing efforts to restore peace, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath issued a statement saying, “It is a terrorist attack by Israeli occupation forces”. Most of the dead were youngsters in their 20s and members of Hamas, medics and Palestinians said. A meeting was being held by members of the Hamas military wing, Iz a-Din al-Qassam, at the building named after Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin at the time of the attack, Palestinian sources said. Thousands of people, including Hamas men and other militant groups, participated in a joint funeral procession for the 14 militants.
— PTI |
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Typhoon pounds Japan; eight dead
Tokyo, September 7 Twentyeight seamen from Russia and Indonesia were missing after their ship ran aground and another vessel sank in western Japan, coast guard officials said. Police said a 62-year-old man died in a landslide in Kagoshima on the island of Kyushu, and an 80-year-old man died when he was knocked down by strong winds and struck his head on the ground in Yamaguchi on the main island of Honshu. Songda,
the region’s third typhoon in three weeks, also damaged two vessels
off South Korea’s southern island of Cheju and Korean authorities
issued a heightened typhoon alert for the south and east coasts of the
country. It injured 580 people in southern and western Japan and authorities urged more than 100,000 households in those regions to evacuate, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said, adding that Songda had cut off electricity to around 1.65 million households. Twentytwo crew of an Indonesian cargo vessel were missing after the ship ran aground off Yamaguchi prefecture just north of the southernmost main island of Kyushu. Coast guard officials said they had recovered three bodies drifting nearby but had yet to confirm they were crew. A Cambodian-registered timber freighter sank after docking at a port in Hiroshima but the coast guard officials said 12 of its 18 crew, all from Russia, had been rescued but the rest remained unaccounted for. Officials said they had recovered two bodies but had yet to confirm they were members of the crew. The
typhoon unleashed winds of up to 216 km (134 miles) per hour in
Hiroshima, the highest windspeed on record in the area, and brought
heavy rains of 100 mm (4 inches) per hour to areas of nearby Yamaguchi
prefecture, NHK said.
— Reuters |
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Pak dismisses US claim on Osama
Islamabad, September 7 Pakistani media on Sunday quoted Cofer Black, US State Department coordinator for counter-terrorism, as saying that the USA and its allies had put the Al Qaeda leader on the defensive, increasing the chances of his capture soon. But Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Black’s remarks were a “political statement”. “We don’t have any information about that,” Ahmed told Reuters by telephone from Saudi Arabia, where he is accompanying Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on an official visit. Black’s comments came just a few days after US President George W. Bush, who is standing for re-election in November, said that three-quarters of known Al Qaeda leaders had been captured or killed. “If he (bin Laden) has a watch, he should be looking at it because the clock is ticking. He will be caught,” Black told private Geo Television. “Programmes are in place and what I tell people (is), I would be surprised but not necessarily shocked if we wake up tomorrow and he had been caught along with all his lieutenants.” Pakistan — a key ally of the USA since Al Qaeda’s attacks on September 11, 2001 — has made a series of breakthroughs against Al Qaeda since July. More than 70 suspected militants, including senior Al Qaeda operatives, have been arrested, raising hopes that security forces are zeroing in on bin Laden or his deputy al-Zawahri. Pakistani officials play down such hopes, saying the pair’s whereabouts were still a mystery, although it is often said they were probably holed up in the mountainous region on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
— Reuters |
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Pak writer Ashfaq Ahmed dead
Lahore, September 7 One of the country’s top literary figures and the winner of several national awards, Ahmed, who had been suffering from gall bladder cancer, died on way to the hospital. He leaves behind three sons and wife Bano
Qudsia, also a popular Urdu language novelist. Born in the town of Muktsar in Indian Punjab’s Ferozepure district, Ahmed migrated to Pakistan after the sub-continent was partitioned in 1947 and settled in Lahore. The short-story writer’s most famous work was ‘Gaddarya’ (Shepherd). President Pervez Musharraf, in his condolence message, said “the literary world had indeed lost one of its distinguished personalities.” |
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LTTE to repay funds taken from civilians
Colombo, September 7 In 1990, the rebels demanded that each family in the Tamil-majority northeast pay them at least $100 or gold of equal value to fund their armed insurgency. The Tigers had said previously they intended to pay the civilians back. “We will repay cash in double and the present cash value of the gold to 3,000 selected families initially,” said rebel spokesman Daya Master.
— AP |
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Republicans laud role of Indian-Americans
New York: Several Republicans during the recently concluded Republican national convention at the Madison Square Garden here had praised the valuable contributions made by the Indian-Americans and expressed confidence that there would be two Indian-American lawmakers — Piyush (Bobby) Jindal and Nikki Randhawa Haley, after the November 2 elections in the United States.
The co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, Joe Wilson, while listing the achievements and contributions of the community to the United States, said “bilateral relations are bound to improve further in the coming years.” “The 2.1 million Indian-American community has the highest per capita income among all immigrant groups in the United States,” Wilson said. He said: “I’m so proud that all of us will be working hard to get Bobby elected to Congress from Louisiana. And we’ve from my home state Nikki Haley.” Jindal is way ahead in his campaign to become the first Indian-American Congressman since Dalip Singh
Saund, who was elected in the mid-1950s. Haley won the Republican primary and is nearly certain to be elected to the state legislature as her Democratic opponent withdrew from the race. The Congressman also said the trade between the United States and India has increased 23 per cent in recent times and that it is expected to rise further. Ambassador Ronen Sen who assumed office recently stated the common things between India and the United States. “We share the same aspirations and the same values. We are diverse nations having the same work ethics, family values and a sense of enterprise,” he said. Republican Senator George Allen of Virginia and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has appreciated India’s democratic and pluralistic traditions and praised New Delhi’s anti-terror efforts. “The country and the people of India have been stalwarts in the war on terror. We’re celebrating a representative democracy. In America, our origins matter less than our destination,” he observed, quoting former President Ronald Reagan. “And that is what democracy is all about.” At a dinner meeting, organised by IARC Pennsylvania state party delegation chief Renee A Moore praised the community members from her state. “I am a third-generation Republican. In my suburban area of Pennsylvania, the Indian population has tripled. I am very pleased as they are educated about politics and other subjects,” she added. In all nearly 20 Indian-American delegates participated in the four-day Republican National Convention, which ended on the night of September 2. |
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Viking burial site discovered
London, September 7 The site in Cumbria, northern England, is believed to date back to the 10th century and was discovered at the end of March when an amateur archaeologist found two copper brooches with a metal detector. The grave of a Viking woman was found underneath and further excavation led to the discovery of the graves of another woman and four men. Amateur archaeologist Peter Adams described it as “the find of a lifetime” and experts said it would help to understand how the raiders settled in England. Among items found in the graves outside the village of Cumwhitton were spurs, a bridle a drinking horn, a bracelet and a belt fitting. “We knew the brooches found by Mr Adams came from a burial of a Viking Age woman, which was exciting and of great importance in itself, but we did not expect to find five other graves, complete with such a splendid array of artefacts.” Vikings from what are now Norway and Denmark began raiding Britain from the beginning of the 9th century.
— Reuters |
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Hollywood roped in to catch piece of sun
Washington, September 7 The helicopter pilots take off tomorrow to intercept a capsule from the Genesis spacecraft, which has travelled three years and 3.2 crore km to capture atomic bits of solar wind that NASA hopes will help scientists understand what the sun is made of and how the solar system began. “We are bringing a piece of the sun down to earth,” said Charles
Elachi, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Two helicopters will try to catch the returning Genesis capsule before it hits the ground, which scientists fear could disrupt the solar particles. The capsule is set to enter earth’s atmosphere at 11:55 am (9:25 pm IST) tomorrow over an air force base.
— AFP |
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Donkey-driven BMW!
Beijing, September 7 The donkey train started its trek trailed by the BMW 760i sedan as well as
several persons walking and carrying white banners that read: “Who can solve
quality flaws with BMWs?” Traffic police personnel halted the donkey train,
which drew a large crowd of onlookers, after 40 minutes. Lin said he
decided to arrange the donkey drive as it seemed the cheapest way to get
the car to Hangzhou, and he wanted to draw public attention to “how
BMW treats customers.” Lin said he bought the expensive car last
November at the Harbin Auto Show. Problems started appearing soon after.
He said the BMW authorised service centre repaired the car several
times, but it was still so problem-ridden that it could not be driven. Lin said he had tried to get the company to agree to repair the car once and for all and to promise to refund his money if problems continued, but the company did not agree. Ma
Qingsheng, manager of the public relations department of BMW’s China
representative office, said if Lin gave them a chance to repair the car,
he could promise that all problems would be solved. Lin said he still
had doubts. “I have already given them several chances”, he said.
— PTI |
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Tokyo, September 7
