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Cheney ok after Afghan blast; 19 killed |
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Bomber kills 14 in Iraq
More UK troops to Afghanistan
Iran won’t suspend N-plan
6 Indians killed in Nepal mishap
Kashmir report sparks debate in EU
Cameron shows relics from ‘Jesus tomb’
Masala bhangra, latest fitness craze in US
Husband held for Nisha’s murder
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US, Italian, German envoys hurt in LTTE attack
Colombo, February 27 The artillery shells fell yards away from one of the helicopters when they landed at a public playground in the eastern district of Batticaloa seriously injuring Italian ambassador Pio Mariani and others. The envoys were in a larger group of diplomats, being taken from the capital Colombo on a tour of the district by human rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe who escaped unhurt. Official sources said that neither the Indian high commission Alok Prasad nor any Indian diplomat was aboard the two helicopters, being used for the trip. Mariani was rushed to the hospital in Batticaloa, 300 kilometres east of here, with serious head injuries and was being kept in intensive care unit before being transferred to Colombo's neurosurgical ward. "Eleven people were brought here after the attack," said the hospital director Muruganathan Moorthy. "The Italian ambassador had an object embedded in his head. Among the injured were four policemen, three special task force commandos, two air force men and a child. US ambassador Robert Blake and German ambassador Juergen Weerth were not admitted to the Batticaloa hospital as they were only slightly hurt,” officials said. "The LTTE targeted the helicopters deliberately, knowing fully well that the ambassadors were on board," defense ministry spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. The LTTE meanwhile, regretted the attack and blamed the Sri Lankan military for triggering it. The Tiger's spokesperson Rasiah Ilanthirayan said that the Sri Lankan Army had in the past used the same landing area to launch attacks on LTTE targets and that the rebels had attacked the helicopters fearing further military assaults. "I express our regret at this unfortunate incident," he said. Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers said that they were sorry as the Italian, German and US ambassadors had been slightly injured by their fire on Tuesday, but blamed the army for putting them in harm's way and for provocation. The Tigers said that they had not been informed that the foreign diplomats were being transported into what they called a military operational area, and accused the army of firing at them first. "We are sorry that they are injured. But we did not injure them," said Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan. “It is the military's fault for putting them in a war zone. These areas are the usual launching pads for military attacks. Even this morning they fired at us and we retaliated. No one informed us that the ambassadors were there," he added.
— PTI, Reuters
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Cheney ok after Afghan blast; 19 killed
Bagram (Afghanistan), February 27 The blast happened near the first security gate outside the base at Bagram, killing 19 persons, said Khoja Mohammad Qasim Sayedi, chief of the province’s public health department. Governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa said, “Around 18 to 20 dead bodies” lay on the ground after the blast. Maj William Mitchell said it did not appear the explosion was intended as a threat to the vice-president. “He was safely within the base at the time of the explosion.” Mitchell said it appeared there were casualties from the blast, but he didn’t immediately know how many. Ajmall, a shopkeeper in the market outside the base, called the blast “huge”, and said it shook the small market area. Ajmall estimated that 20 to 30 persons were killed or wounded and said some of the casualties were taken inside the US base for treatment. Cheney, who spent the night at Bagram, left the base about 90 minutes after the blast. The explosion sent up a plume of smoke visible by reporters inside the base traveling with Cheney, and American military officials declared a “red alert” inside the base. The Taliban, meanwhile, said the suicide bomber was aiming for Cheney who was
visiting at the time. “We wanted to target ... Cheney,” Taliban spokesman Mullah
Hayat Khan told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location. — Agencies
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Baghdad, February 27 The bomber yesterday tried to slam through a checkpoint outside the Warar police station in central Ramadi but exploded after the police opened fire against him. He was driving an ambulance that had been stolen two days ago from the city's hospital, according to the authorities. Those killed included five policemen, three men, three women, three children and 10 civilians, while three women, three children and six men were wounded, officials said. — AP
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More UK troops to Afghanistan
London, February 26 The announcement will bring the total UK troop level in Afghanistan to around 7,700 until 2009, meaning Britain will have more forces based there than in Iraq for the first time since the 2003 Iraq invasion. Blair had said on Wednesday that Britain would soon reduce numbers in Iraq to 5,500. Britain currently has around 5,500 troops in Afghanistan, mainly based in the volatile southern province of Helmand, a Taliban stronghold. — PTI
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Iran won’t suspend N-plan
Teheran, February 27 "One thing that is not feasible is the Iranian nation backing down on having nuclear technology for peaceful purposes," foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a conference in Teheran. He recalled that Iran had already imposed a temporary suspension of sensitive uranium enrichment activities in 2004, but said that Iran had received nothing in return. "If suspension is needed for trust building, we have already taken this step and look how it ended. Europe gave us a list of suggestions, but in return wanted us to halt enrichment, which is an illegal and illegitimate request,” Mottaki said. Diplomats from six key world powers pledged on Thursday to work on a new, tougher UN Security Council resolution on how to tackle the Iranian nuclear programme. Representatives from Germany and the five permanent members of the Security Council- Britain, France, China, Russia and the US will reconvene on Thursday to discuss the "sanctions resolution". Washington kept up pressure for new sanctions on Iran after talks in London in the wake of Tehran's refusal to bow to UN demands to halt its nuclear fuel “There will be consequences, if Iran does not remain in negotiations over its nuclear programme,” state department spokesman Sean McCormack, said yesterday. Senior US diplomat Nick Burns said the six-powers meeting on Iran in London yesterday was conducted in a very good, positive, constructive atmosphere. McCormack noted that the six powers in the talks, the US, Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany, had agreed to talk again on Thursday by telephone to try to thrash out which elements to include in a new tougher UN Security Council resolution on Iran.
— AFP
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6 Indians killed in Nepal mishap Kathmandu, February 27 There were at least 44 passengers in the ill-fated bus that fell 130 metre into the river at Darechowk. The Indians injured in the accident have been identified as Ranjit Sharma, Binod Sharma, Rishi Sharma, Ahay Shaam, Madan Sharma, Jitender Kumar Sharma of Motihari. Those killed in the accident were identified as Rajendra Prasad Yadav of East Champaran, Upendra Pandit, Jayaram Sharma, Tipu Sharma, Jawahar Sharma and Manohar Sharma of India, the radio said. — PTI
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Kashmir report sparks debate in EU
London, February 27 “The report remains a patronizing, insulting piece of work,” said British MEP Sajjad Karim, who is of Pakistani origin. If adopted the report could do “potential damage to EU-Pakistan relations,” he claimed during the debate last evening. When during the heated exchanges, Nicholson suggested that the amendment proposals “have come straight from Islamabad,” and accused Karim of writing to the Pakistani diaspora to press for the amendments, Karim shouted “outrageous, outrageous.” The pro-Indian MEP Charles Tannock said he found the report “factually correct in content” and added that the report was open to compromise amendments. Jo Linen, a German MEP, said “we should provide an objective report” and noted that “it was on a good path.” On her part, Baroness Sarah Ludford, said she “still didn’t think the balance was right.” “There is a hole in the middle of the report,” she said, while another British MEP Richard Howitt even suggested to let the report “sit on the table” and halt the debate. The pro-Pakistani MEPs are particularly agitated about one reference in the report which calls for a plebiscite on the final status of Jammu and Kashmir to be “wholly out of step”, and they demanded that it be removed from the
report. — PTI
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Cameron shows relics from ‘Jesus tomb’
New York, February 27 But others said it was just a publicity stunt backed by the man who made the movie "Titanic" and "The Terminator" to promote a documentary and a book, and likely untrue. Cameron and a team of scholars showed two stone ossuaries, or bone boxes, that he said might have once contained the bones of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The findings are the subject of a documentary he produced called "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" and a book "The Jesus Family Tomb." The two small caskets were part of 10 found in 1980 during construction in South Jerusalem. Several had inscriptions translated as Jesus, Mary Magdalene and "Judah, son of Jesus," Cameron told a news conference at the New York Public Library surrounded by scholars and archaeologists. "This is the beginnings of an ongoing investigation," Cameron said. "If things come to light that erode this investigation, then so be it." If true, the revelations are likely to raise the ire of Christians because the discovery would challenge the belief that Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven. The documentary comes on the heels of the huge success of the novel The Da Vinci Code, which contends that Mary Magdalene had a child with Jesus. Shimon Gibson, one of the archaeologists who discovered the tomb, told Reuters at the news conference he had a "healthy scepticism" the tomb may have belonged to the family of Jesus, but the claims deserved to be investigated. In Jerusalem, the Israeli archaeologist who also carried out excavations at the tomb on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, disputed the documentary's conclusions. The archaeologist, Amos Kloner, said the 2,000-year-old cave contained coffins belonging to a Jewish family whose names were similar to those of Jesus and his relatives. "I can say positively that I don't accept the identification (as) ... belonging to the family of Jesus in Jerusalem," Kloner told Reuters. "I don't accept that the family of Miriam and Yosef (Mary and Joseph), the parents of Jesus, had a family tomb in Jerusalem." "They were a very poor family. They resided in Nazareth, they came to Bethlehem in order to have the birth done there -- so I don't accept it, not historically, not archeologically," said Kloner, a professor in the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archeology at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv. After they were discovered, the bones were reburied according to Orthodox tradition, leaving just the boxes with inscriptions and human residue to be examined though ongoing DNA testing. Professor L Michael White, of the University of Texas, said he also doubted the claims were true. "This is trying to sell documentaries," he said, adding a series of strict tests needed to be conducted before a bone box or inscription could be confirmed as ancient. "This is not archeologically sound, this is fanfare."
— AP
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Masala bhangra, latest fitness craze in US
New York, February 27 Sarina Jain, who is dubbed as the Indian Jane Fonda, is the creator of Masala Bhangra and is also credited with the introduction of bhangra, the lively folk dance
of Punjab, to the fitness world. Jain holds her aerobic classes all over the US, including at major health clubs in New York and San Francisco, according to the Indo-American
Arts Council. Born in the US to Indian parents, Jain launched her own company Masala Dance and Fitness Inc in January 1999.She has been recognised as the first South Asian fitness icon to introduce Indian dance to fitness enthusiasts in the US. A resident of New York and California, Jain is an active member of the Indian-American communities on both coasts of the
US. — IANS
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Husband held for Nisha’s murder London, February 27 The police said 33-year-old Fadi Nasri was held this morning over the fatal stabbing of his wife. He is being questioned at a west London police station. Patel-Nasri (29) was stabbed in leg outside her home in Wembley, north-west London in May 2006. Nasri is the fourth person to be arrested over the death. Two men have already been charged with Patel-Nasri’s murder. They are Tony Emmanuel, 40 and 35-year-old Jason Jones, both from east London. Another 37-year-old man was being interviewed by police today. He was arrested last December and then bailed pending further enquiries. Patel-Nasri, who worked as a hairdresser, had been a special constable for three and a half years. She and her husband had been celebrating their third wedding anniversary on May 11, the night of the attack. More than 100 police officers formed a guard of honour at her funeral where Nasri read a eulogy at the service at Golders Green Crematorium in North London. — PTI
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