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Militants in Pak sever Afghan supply link
Final frontier: Lankan troops face stiff resistance
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Heat over kebabs at Oxford
Iran launches first home-built satellite
Indian Canadian admits to beheading 2-yr-old daughter
‘Racist attack’
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Militants in Pak sever Afghan supply link
Peshawar, February 3 Separately, a military spokesman said security forces killed at least 35 Taliban insurgents and wounded many more in an attack yesterday in the Swat Valley, northeast of the Kyber Pass. Militants in northwestern Pakistan stepped up attacks on the road through the Khyber Pass, a crucial route into land-locked Afghanistan, last year in an attempt to deprive international forces fighting the Taliban of supplies trucked in from Pakistan. The iron bridge on west of Peshawar was blown up after midnight and officials said all traffic along the route was suspended. “Militants blew up the bridge and it’s going to take some time to fix,” said government official Rahat Gul. Guards are usually posted on heights above bridges but it was not clear why they had been unable to stop the attack. There are two routes through Pakistan into Afghanistan - one through the Khyber Pass to the border town of Torkham and the other runs through Pakistan to the border town of Chaman and on to the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. The US Defense Department says it has send 75 per cent of supplies for the Afghan war through or over Pakistan, including 40 per cent of the fuel for its troops. With the US set to send more soldiers to Afghanistan in the coming months, the need for reliable supply routes will become even more important. — Reuters
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Final frontier: Lankan troops face stiff resistance Sri Lankan government troops, making a final push to gain control of the last remaining areas under the control of the LTTE, are facing stiff resistance even as the fate of thousands of civilians in Mullaitivu hangs in balance. Military sources said troops are meeting stiff resistance from the Tigers who are holding onto the last remaining town in the Mullaitivu district, the fall of which would end the Tiger’s grip on significant areas of land in the country. The International Commitee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said last evening some shells had landed on a hospital in the Tiger-controlled area. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is getting ready to celebrate its 61st year of Independence from British rule. Security has been tightened in and around Colombo for the celebrations, which will take place on Wednesday. President Mahinda Rajapaksa will address the nation.He is expected to give details of the ongoing military operations against the Tigers in his address. There were reports that troops captured a major LTTE hideout, which is also believed to be a major residential site of the group’s leader Velupillai Prabakaran. The two-storey underground residential complex was located in a two-acre coconut cultivated land, which was well fortified, with all-round protection from adjacent gun positions and bunker locations. The military said at least 20 LTTE cadres were killed during the confrontation in the area.
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London, February 3 Saeid Kashmiri has been selling kebabs near Christ Church College for 15 years from a van called ‘Sid’s Kitchen’, but now the university authorities have applied to the Oxford City Council to revoke his licence. The council, however, rejected the university’s application and instead asked Kashmiri to move his van 200 yards away from the college in a compromise agreement. Kashmiri, 62, sells kebabs between 7 pm and 3 am everyday, reports from the Oxford said. An Oxford University spokesman said: “The van outside the college is seven nights a week and the smell lingers on long after it left for the night. A number of staff has raised concerns over whether it is suitable for students to work best in such conditions. “We encourage students to eat healthy but the issue with Sid’s Kitchen has nothing to do with that. The college is concerned with students having the best possible environment for study,” the spokesman said. But Kashmiri insisted he was providing a useful service. He said: “For 15 years, we have been serving people, including the students. They come down and get a baked potato when studying at night.” — PTI
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Iran launches first home-built satellite
Dubai, February 3 The launch of the satellite named Omid was announced by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said it had been put in the orbit. It was launched with the help of Safir-2 rockets. “With this launch, the Islamic Republic of Iran has achieved its presence in space,” he was quoted as saying by the state television today. The launch of the satellite coincides with 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and comes as Tehran remains in confrontation with the international community over its nuclear programme. “On the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution and with the order of the President, the national Omid (Hope) satellite was launched,” the Fars news agency reported. “With this launch, the Islamic Republic of Iran has officially achieved a presence in space.” The satellite is aimed at determining orbital measurements and will calculate Earth 15 times in every 24 hours, the official IRNA reported. The West, particularly the US, suspects Iran of secretly trying to build nuclear weapons and fears the space rocket technology could be diverted into long-range ballistic missile’s development, which can carry nuclear warheads. Iran has pursued a space programme for several years. In October 2005, a Russian-made Iranian satellite named Sina-1 was put into orbit with help of a Russian rocket. — PTI
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Indian Canadian admits to beheading 2-yr-old daughter
Vancouver, February 3 Forty-eight-year-old Lakhvinder Singh Kahlon had slit the throat of his toddler on the morning of Jan 18 last year at the family home when his wife, Manjit, was away to drop their two elder daughters to school. When she returned home, the wife found the two-year-old Ravinder beheaded. A construction worker, Kahlon had already had two daughters and was not happy about the birth of Ravinder. After her birth, he had left his work and stayed at home most of the time. Kahlon, who faced a first-degree murder charge, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Monday in the provincial British Columbia Supreme Court in New Westminster near here. He faces the mandatory life sentence to be announced Thursday, with the possibility of a parole after 10 years. The court admitted Kahlon's guilty plea after a psychiatrist testified about his psychological state. The court also took into account the testimony of a police officer who posed as a prisoner and spoke with Kahlon. The police officer told the court that Kahlon told him that the toddler became victim of his frustration after his fights with his wife over their financial situation. The killing of the toddler had sent shockwaves in the whole Indian Canadian community in Canada. New immigrants to Canada, the Kahlon family had settled in the Indian-dominant Delta-Surrey area in Vancouver's suburb. — IANS
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London, February 3 Navtej Singh Sidhu (35), a construction worker from Moga who has been in Italy for the past five years, was sleeping in the Nettuno railway station when he was brutally attacked on Sunday morning. Sushmit Biswas, first secretary in the Indian embassy in Rome, said the victim had sustained 40 per cent third degree burns, besides a skull fracture. — PTI
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Hillary sworn in
Washington, February 3 Hillary’s husband and former US President Bill Clinton and her daughter Chelsea were also present at the ceremony yesterday, which included several former Secretaries of States and Congressional leaders. She is the 67th Secretary of State. Hillary replaces Condoleezza Rice of the previous Bush Administration. Speaking on the occasion, Biden said he was confident that with Clinton as Secretary of State, the Obama Administration would be able to achieve its foreign policy goals in challenging times. “In selecting Senator Clinton for this critical task, I think the (US) President selected a person of unrivalled talent and experience,” Biden said.
— PTI
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